This Used to Be A Home
by SquidVicious01
Summary: Ariadne Young has spent five years trying to unravel the mystery of what happened to her brother Jacob in the cursed vaults. Now in her sixth year, Ari has found the entrance to the last vault, and with it, the promise of her brother. With the help of her friends, she must decide if she wants to confront what Jacob may have found.
1. Prologue

"It's a dragon," Charlie Weasley breathed, eyes lit up. He brushed a strand of thick, red hair from his face, ignoring that most of it had escaped the pony tail he'd sloppily constructed earlier that day.

"IT'S A DRAGON!" Ariadne Young screamed back, her own green eyes wide with fear. Charlie was half in front of her in a protective stance but his posture was shifting. She grabbed his arm in an attempt to pull him back but he didn't budge. Couldn't he see the danger they were in? How many times had her best friend Rowan warned her that her obsession with the cursed vaults was going to get her killed? How right Rowan was, Ari realized, as the huge, green scaled dragon unfurled it's wings.

She tugged Charlie's arm again as every cell in her body screamed at her to run. She couldn't leave him here. She dropped her brother's journal to grab him with both hands, her quest officially abandoned. All that mattered was that they both survived.

"We have to go, Charlie come on, we need to run," she urged, pulling with all the strength in her body. Charlie was muscular and broad for a fifteen year old boy and Ari was no match for him. Still, somehow, she managed to force him back a step. He stumbled, falling backward, right as the dragon roared and sent a blast of flame right towards them. It only just missed them.  
Blue eyes met green, their limbs twisted. "What about the vault?" He asked as they scrambled to their feet.

"We'll die if we don't run," Ari said confidently, her own auburn hair swinging into her face.

"Your brother-"

"Was an idiot, just like we'll be if we stay, Charlie COME ON!" She grabbed his hand and tugged hard, forcing him to run with her through the forbidden forest. They'd spent the last two years navigating these woods, hiding from centaurs (and occasionally negotiating with them), spiders, and other monsters in an attempt to find one of the vaults her brother Jacob had previously opened before vanishing forever. She always took Charlie with her when they ventured into the forbidden forest because no one had a better working knowledge of the creatures inside it (except maybe their friend Barnaby) and enough common sense to run when needed to.

Except, she realized, when confronted with an actual dragon. He had been speculating for the last two years a common Welsh lived in the forest and everyone brushed him off. Charlie's obsessions with dragons knew no bounds. Ari herself had never given the idea any thought and she realized now how foolish that was. Hadn't she chosen Charlie in part because he had been venturing into the forest alone for years? Why wouldn't he be right?  
They reached his broom and mounted, her arms tight around his chest. She turned to look behind her and saw it lifting it's own wings to take flight. Charlie was the best quidditch player at Hogwarts, but even she didn't think he could outrun a dragon.  
"It's right behind us!" She shouted into his ear. He kicked off and they were airborne, zooming through the air.

"Why is she so mad?" He shouted against the wind as they both turned their heads to look back. He dove, back into the cover of the trees, dodging left and right with a precision that made her a little sick. She tightened her grip on his chest.

"Because we bothered it?" She screamed back as another blast of fire just missed them again. She could feel the heat on the back of her neck.

He pulled up and they were heading straight up, towards the sun. There was a reason, she remembered, why she never did well in flying class. It made her sick. He straightened out and began racing towards the castle, putting distance between them and the dragon. Another look back and she realized the dragon was done chasing them. She was heading back to her guarding place, the entrance of the cursed vault.

They landed on soft grass. Ari let go of Charlie and rolled onto her back, eyes closed, hair splayed around her, breathing hard. She felt Charlie thud next to her. He was laughing. "An actual dragon," he said, nudging her with his arm. "Can you believe it?"

"I don't want to," she replied, squeezing her eyes shut tighter.

"Ms. Young…Mr. Weasley," a soft, familiar voice hovered above them, forcing her eyes open. Professor Dumbledore was there, with their heads of house, Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout.

"In all my years-!" McGonagall spluttered, apparently too furious to speak.

"I expected better!" Sprout snapped, glaring at Ari.

"Let's go. To my office, if you please," Dumbledore sighed.

Ari and Charlie exchanged a glance as the clambered to their feet. Dumbledore had promised her last year he could not shield her from serious consequences if she broke the rules again. The look on her face promised a severe punishment.


	2. Boxes

_I need a family to drive me crazy_

_Call me out when I'm low and lazy_

_We won't be perfect, but we'll be fine_

_Because I've got your back_

_And you've got mine._

Rowan Khanna appeared on the lawn on the Burrow, already anxious. She tucked her thick, dark black hair behind her ear and adjusted her glasses that had gone askew from the portkey. Dark eyes encased in dark skin scanned for any sight of her best friend, but all she saw was a gnome scamper from one bush to another. She sighed. Maybe Ari was inside?  
She hadn't heard from Ari since the last day of school. Ari herself was despondent, having spent every weekend after her adventure into the forbidden forest in detention with Professor Sprout.

"My parents threatened to send me to boarding school in Greece if I got in trouble again," Ari had confided in Rowan on the train ride home. "I know they're going to be mad."

Rowan had reassured her that everything would be fine, but it was mid-August and she hadn't heard any word from Ari at all.

She knocked on the door. Tall, long haired Bill opened it, an easy smile on his handsome face. Her heart quickened. She'd had a crush on him since her first year at Hogwarts and here he was, as handsome as ever. Still completely oblivious to her feelings, she realized.

"Rowan!" His smile widened and he pulled her into a tight hug. "It's nice to see you."

"You too," she breathed, looking down at her feet. "Is it just me?"

"Just you," he repeated, letting her in. "Literally. Just me, you, and Charlie. Mum took the littles out for supplies and dads at work."

She stepped in as footsteps came thundering down the stairs. More red hair, blue eyes, and freckles greeted her in the form of Charlie Weasley. "Oh Rowan. Just you."

"Just me," she repeated like Bill had done earlier. It didn't take a genius to figure out who Charlie was hoping to see. Charlie had been obviously interested in Ari since their first year. Obvious to Rowan, anyway, who could recognize anyone who felt the same way about Ari that she did. Not that she was in love with Ari, but she loved her deeply, like the sister she'd never had.

"Have you heard from Ari?" Rowan asked after an uncomfortable moment. Both Bill and Charlie shook their heads.

"I've written her though," Charlie added. "Five letters at least."

"I wrote her, too," Bill said, plopping down on a worn couch. Bill and Ari had been close friends during his years at Hogwarts; both had a love of curse breaking that drew them together. Last year had been Bill's last. Personally, Rowan thought that Bill was a stand-in for Jacob. He had six younger brothers and sisters and took to Ari like she was just another Weasley. At first, Rowan had been jealous of the close relationship between Ari and Bill, because Bill seemed so enamored with Ari. Maybe he had been. Ari had never reciprocated any feelings beyond friendship and Rowan swallowed her jealousy.

Besides, after last years dragon debacle it was clear that if any Weasley had a shot with Ari, it was Charlie. To Rowan, it made total sense. Ari, despite being a Hufflepuff, was a take no prisoners, all or nothing kind of girl. She was the best dueler Hogwarts had ever seen by a mile, fearless and incredibly loyal. Charlie Weasley, Rowan decided as she looked at his worried face, never had a chance.

Not that Charlie wasn't a prize himself. At sixteen he already looked like a man, broad and toned with a square jaw and a handsome face. Not as handsome as Bill, she decided, but certainly handsome enough. She suspected he was drawn to Ari because of his own sense of adventure and loyalty as well. Charlie could look at the most fearsome creature and see something worth loving.

It made sense he could see Ari beyond the walls she put up, and find something there.

They didn't wait long. Penny and Tulip strolled in moments later like they completely owned the Burrow, and maybe all of the country itself. Penny, the most popular and best looking girl in school, had her hair in her trademark yellow plaits, her blue eyes searching. Next to her, Tulip stood with the same suspicious look she always wore, her dark reddish brown hair pulled up into a pony tail. Her olive skin stood in contrast to Penny's fair skin and Rowan saw how their fingers brushed, ever so gently, before they separated.

"No Ari?" Tulip asked dryly, her eyes laser focused on Charlie.

"Not yet," Rowan said, too hopefully.

"I think her mom shipped her off to Greece. Isn't that where her mom is from?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure," Rowan responded, ignoring the knot forming in her stomach.

"If she's in Greece we'll just go get here. Dumbledore didn't expel her," Penny said decidedly.

"Our dad has been working on a flying car," Bill said helpfully, sitting on the other side of Rowan. She tried to, but it was impossible with Tulip suggestively winking at her from across the room.

"We don't need a flying car," Charlie said impatiently. "We'll just take-"

"Flying car?" A voice interrupted them from the door. Impossibly handsome, dark haired, tall and lean, Barnaby stood, his Slytherin prefect badge gleaming on his chest already. Even Rowan had had the good sense not to wear hers. She was waiting until tomorrow, when they all descended on Diagon Alley, to put it on.

It was possible Barnaby had never taken it off, she realized. Kind but not incredibly smart, he might have thought he needed to wear it every single day, in school or not. "How do we get a flying car? That sounds amazing."

"We're not taking a flying car," Rowan said quickly, suppressing an eye roll.

"Because we'll take a broom," Charlie agreed.

"You're going to FLY a BROOM across the continent?" Tulip interjected sarcastically. Charlie narrowed his eyes.

"Do you have a better plan?"

"Are we scheming?" A pink haired Tonks asked, erupting through the fireplace. "It doesn't matter, I'm in."

"Planning a jail break for Ari," Penny explained.

"She's in jail?" Tonks asked, eyes wide.

"Metaphorical jail," Bill interjected. "Man, I am going to miss you guys."

"We're not gonna miss you mate," Andre and Ben walked in together, looking carefree. Ben had grown from a terrified boy to a nervous and sometimes wary young man. Sandy blonde and blue eyed, he was a mousy comparison to dark skinned, dark haired, handsome Andre. Andre's fashion sense was only eclipsed by his quidditch talent. Andre was almost Charlie's equal on that front, although when it came to women, Andre beat Charlie every time. He was as popular as Penny at Hogwarts, and if Rowan didn't suspect that Penny's feelings laid somewhere else, she would be secretly rooting for them to get together, the way she rooted for all good looking people to get together.

"Yeah, leaving us for the glamorous world of curse breaking," Ben replied, sitting next to Tonks in front of the fire place. "Congratulations, by the way." Ben couldn't help but be nice, even when he was making fun of someone.

Bill beamed. "Thanks! It's been an adventure, and I'm ready to really get started."

"Yeah yeah," Tonks shot back, but she was grinning. "All I hear is that you're too good for us now."

"He was always too good for us," Tulip reminded Tonks.

"Not too good for me," Barnaby joked, smiling suggestively at Bill. "We could have had a love that transcended anything Hogwarts had ever seen."

"I didn't know you were in love with Bill," a soft voice from the doorway silenced them all. Ari stood there, framed by sunlight, her red hair cascading down her shoulders. "That's gonna make my confession here really awkward."

Rowan jumped up. "You're alive!" she didn't mean to shout it as loud as she did, nor did she mean to fling herself so hard at Ari that they fell backwards into the yard.

"Of course I'm alive," Ari choked back.

"You didn't write!" Rowan continued on, wrapping her leg around Ari's.

"I know. My parent's grounded me. It's been a long summer. I'm only here because Mrs. Weasley showed up and told my parents to get a grip."

"She said that?"

"Well…she said it nicer, but yeah." Rowan released Ari and the two sat up on the grass and the rest of their friends piled out around them. "She reminded mum that mum wasn't the only one with a disappointing child, but it was no reason to punish me forever."

"Whose disappointing?" Charlie asked from the back of the group.

"Definitely you, mate," Bill called back. He reached down and offered her a hand, pulling her into a hug when she accepted it. One arm was wrapped around her body, the other on the back of her head. "I was worried," he whispered.

Rowan looked past the embrace to Charlie, who wore an unreadable expression on his face. She wasn't the only one watching him. Ever shrewd, Tulip's gaze was also focused on him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered back before breaking apart. "I really am. I thought it was best to just lay low for the summer."

"But now you're ready to get back into curse breaking?" Andre's question was more of a confident statement.

Ari shook her head. "No. No. I've put you all in so much danger the last six years-"

"Willingly. We've gone with you willingly," Penny interrupted, her voice sincere.

"I know. You all are the most amazing friends I could have ever asked for. But I can't keep risking your lives. Last year I nearly killed Charlie-"

"To be fair," He interrupted, his voice placid, "It was me who almost killed you."

She ignored this, took a deep breath, and continued. "And I can't keep going on like this. I'm going to end up dead. Like Jacob."

A ripple of protest erupted from everyone's mouths. She held her hand up. "Maybe he's not dead," she conceded. "But he also doesn't want to be found, and he isn't worried about me. I can't…no I WON'T spend my whole life chasing after a ghost. I want a normal year, a normal teenage experience. I don't want to spend all my time obsessing over my brother. I want to do normal things so this year I'm taking Dumbledore's advice and I'm going to just focus on myself."

"You don't have to do what Dumbledore says," Tulip told her. Tonks nodded fervently.

"I WANT to. Can't we just be a normal group of friends?"

"No," Barnaby said.

"Nope," Andre agreed.

"Definitely not," Tonks chimed in.

"Well, we're gonna try. Starting now," Ari said firmly.

The Burrow was crowded, but oddly cozy, Charlie decided as he softly padded down the stairs. Barnaby was sharing a room with him. Across the hall Andre and Ben slept in Bill's much larger room. Penny and Tonk's were with his youngest sister, Ginny, and everyone else was in the living room. That's where he was headed. He hadn't been able to have a moment alone with Ari since she'd arrived and he was worried that her decision to abandon the cursed vaults was partly his fault. He'd spent too long admiring the dragon while she had tried to drag him away, and they'd nearly died. It was his fault she didn't want to keep searching for them. He felt guilty.

He found Tulip and Rowan asleep but the blanket that Ari must have been under was abandoned. The front door was slightly ajar. He followed it out into the yard, where he found her standing in a thin t-shirt and checkered shorts.

"Hey," he said, feet wet from the grass, his own flannel pants blowing in the breeze. She turned to look at him and his heart stuttered a bit. He was close enough he could count the freckles that dusted across her nose, that he could smell her against the night. "I'm sorry…about last year."

"I know," she whispered before turning back around to look back up at the stars. "I'm sorry, too."

"I would want to know what happened to one of my brothers, if they vanished," he said. "You don't have to give up."

"If Bill was alive, would he ever make you wonder?" She asked him. It wasn't really a question because they both knew the answer. Bill would never. "I'm not giving up because of you, I'm doing this for me. I'm afraid of what Jacob might have found…and what might happen to all of us if I find out."

They stood there in silence, listening to the crickets for so long he lost count. Finally she turned around, facing him again and Charlie reminded himself to breathe. Where did he belong in her life if she was just trying to be normal? He was afraid he didn't fit in. She had never said one word to him until their fourth year, when Bill had suggested she ask him for help. If she wasn't looking in the forbidden forest, what good was he to her?

They didn't even have the luxury of being in the same house together, her a Hufflepuff and him a Gryffindor. There was literally nothing keeping them together anymore.

"We'll go on normal adventures this year," she said, interrupting his thoughts. His heart soared at the words. "Do normal things, like drink butter beer and talk about school and the normal Hogwarts gossip."

"Are you sure you aren't confusing me with Penny?" He asked. Ari laughed. Penny knew everything about everyone in school.

"Well, we can talk about it, too. In a more speculative way, since we have no way of knowing if it's true."

"That's fair."

It happened so quick it took him by surprise. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his in a hug. She hadn't touched him since their escape on his broom and he'd been so full of adrenaline he had barely registered it. This was different. He could feel the heat from her body, the smell of her soap. He remembered how jealous he'd been of Bill, watching how easy it was for them to embrace, how Bill had no trouble telling her how he felt.

He was grateful she didn't seem to feel the same. Charlie was hyper aware that if she snapped her fingers, Bill would have jumped. Bill had said, last year, that she saw him as the big brother she'd always wanted.

He realized he was being an ass, arms hanging at his sides, as he ruminated on her possible feelings for his older brother. He hugged her back, hands flat on her back, chin resting on top of her head. She burrowed her face into the crook of his neck for a moment, where they stood. Finally, she sighed, breaking away. He reluctantly let her go.

"This is going to be good for all of us."

He nodded, watching as she walked back inside. He hoped she was right.


	3. High Hopes

_Burn your biographies, rewrite history, light up your wildest dreams_

_Museum victories, everyday_

_We wanted everything, wanted everything_

Ari took a deep breath at the sorting feast, grateful to be back. The first years were all in their houses, Dumbledore had warned them to stay out of the forbidden forest (she had stared down at her plate, avoiding eye contact as he talked), and now they were free. Penny, Tonks, Rowan and Ari all sat at the Hufflepuff table, piling food onto their plates. As she ate, she scanned the room for the rest of her friends. Barnaby, the lone Slytherin, chatted with some other boys, oblivious to anything going on around him. At the Ravenclaw table Tulip and Andre sat across from each other but talked to the people sitting next to them. She caught Tulip glancing over occasionally and tried to offer a smile, but Tulip always looked away too quickly. Gryffindor's Ben and Charlie were no where near each other, each lost in conversation with someone else. She felt her stomach drop, just a little, seeing Charlie involved in an animated chat with a pretty blonde she didn't recognize.

"Who is that?" She nudged Penny, drawing her attention to Charlie. Penny raised an eyebrow and looked at Tonks and Rowan before answering.

"That's Emma Strong. She's a seventh year and she's on their quidditch team."

"She's pretty," Ari said, unconcerned with how it sounded to admit that out loud. Her feelings surrounding Charlie were complicated and she didn't really understand them. On the one hand, he was Bill's younger brother, and since Bill was family that made Charlie family.

On the other hand…Charlie was…Charlie. He smelled like honey suckle and wet grass. He had saved her life. He looked up, perhaps feeling her staring, and their eyes locked. He smiled. She smiled back.

"Oh my Merlin if this is going to be the entire year I will actually die," Penny said, rolling her eyes.

"Shut up," Rowan said a little more fiercely than she meant. Ari turned around, smile still playing on her lips.

"It's complicated," she admitted.

"For you, maybe," Tonks said, mouth filled with potatoes. "I reckon Charlie's all sorted."

"I just think-" Penny started to say in a lofty tone, but Rowan interrupted quickly.

"What about your love life, Penny? Don't you have someone special?"  
Tonks and Ari turned their gaze on Penny, who, to Ari's surprise, turned bright red. "No-I-" She stammered. "It's complicated."

"With who?" Tonks asked, fork abandoned. Penny shot daggers at Rowan.

"No one. Just drop it."

"I think we should drop all boys, personally," said Tonks. "They get in the way of doing real things…like pranking Filch, for instance."

"For once, I agree with you," said Penny. The three girls lifted their goblets.

"To ignoring boys," Tonks said.

"To ignoring boys!"

"Did you tell Rowan about us?" Penny asked, hurriedly shutting the door behind her.

"Why would I tell Rowan anything personal about me?" Tulip responded as she sifted through the papers in Jacob's old hideout.

"I think she knows," Penny said, tugging on a braid nervously. "Something she said at dinner made me think-"

"Hey," Tulip walked over, taking Penny's hand in hers. "Are you ashamed?"

"No, I just-"

"Then don't worry about it. Rowan isn't going to out us even if she does know, which I'm sure she doesn't."

Penny wasn't so sure, although when she looked back through her memories trying to figure out how much Rowan might have seen, she couldn't pinpoint one moment that gave them away. They'd slept in separate areas at the burrow, they hadn't walked next to each other in Diagon Alley, or secluded themselves or even spent an hour staring at the stars on the lawn like Ari and Charlie had done.

Still. Penny was uneasy. While Tulip had known she had liked girls her entire life, the revelation was new to Penny. She had liked boys, too. Liking Tulip hadn't happened all at once, but slowly over years of knowing and getting to know each other.  
She'd confessed this summer, when they spent a week together. It had been a rush of jumbled words that Tulip silenced with a soft kiss. Penny wasn't ready for all of Hogwarts to know, though, and Rowan guessing terrified her. She felt more paranoid than ever.

It wasn't the only thing she was doing that she shouldn't be. Ari might be done looking for Jacob but that didn't mean she was. Tulip had suggested it the second after Ari gave her little speech.  
"No way I'm flushing five years down the toilet," Tulip had fumed. "She's gonna spend a month trying to be normal, get bored, and rope us all back in. We might as well just keep looking."  
Jacob had a hidden room in Hogwarts that was untouched from when he'd been there. The only other person who knew about it, besides their group, was Merula and she barely came in anymore. It was the perfect place for the two of them to be alone, both because they liked each other and because they wanted to know what really happened to Jacob.  
"Ari still has Jacob's journal," Tulip said, tossing a stack of drawings back on his desk in annoyance.  
"No, she lost it in the forest when she was chased out by that dragon," Penny reminded her. "And I doubt she's going to go back in and get it."  
"Charlie might," Tulip suggested.  
"Charlie might sneak around Ari's back?" Penny raised an eyebrow. It was common knowledge that he had a crush on her. Tonk's had a secret pool on how long it would take the two of them to get together. Everyone had money on when they thought the two of them would finally get it together and, well, get together. In fact, the only person, outside of Charlie and Ari, obviously, that didn't know was Rowan and that was because she was physically incapable of keeping a secret from Ari.  
"Not if you tell him what we're doing," Tulip thought for a moment. "But he might go back in if we framed it differently…like that she's missing that link to her brother. Or, you know he can't resist a dragon. I doubt it's gone anywhere."  
"I don't know. We could try."  
Tulip kissed Penny gently, holding one her braids between her fingers. "That's the spirit."

Rowan was back in the library. NEWTS were a year away, she reasoned. No reason not to get an early jump on things. What was surprising was that Barnaby plopped himself down at the same table she was at, flipped open a book, and began reading.  
"What are you doing?" She asked finally when her curiosity overwhelmed her. Barnaby looked up.  
"Reading?" He asked as if he was certain he was doing it.  
"No, I can see that. But why?"  
He held up the new Care of Magical Creatures book, his face lit up with excitement. "I want to see what it says!"  
Rowan leaned back in her chair, surprised. She didn't know Barnaby was so interested in anything. Barnaby flashed her a smile and Rowan wondered if he'd always been handsome, or just handsome because he wasn't the empty headed idiot she'd always assumed he'd been. It wasn't like her and Barnaby had ever been close. Barnaby had been Merula's friend before Ari charmed him in to switching sides and hanging out with them their third year. The only thing she'd really seen him do with any amount of enthusiasm was date and duel. Except…he was in her Care of Magical Creatures class last year, wasn't he? And he'd always been paired up with Charlie Weasley, that had to say something, didn't it? She remembered seeing the two of them constantly talking and laughing.  
"Are you taking Care of Magical Creatures this year?" He asked, noticing that she was staring.  
"Oh…no. It's…I'm not really good at it," Rowan told him lamely.  
"Oh, you should have told me! I could have helped! I really want to be a magizoologist when we get out of here. What about you?"  
She lowered her book, setting it spine down on the table. "A Hogwarts professor. The youngest ever," she smiled at the thought. "So I have to really study."  
"I hope you don't mind me, then. I promise not to bother you," he said, picking his book up.  
She nodded, picking hers up, too.  
What an odd boy, that Barnaby was.

*  
"Andre!" Ari chased after Andre at the end of charms. He was much further down the hall than she was, chatting with a pretty fifth year. "ANDRE!"  
"Merlin I heard you," he grumbled, watching the girl walk away. "I was busy."  
"Yeah, sorry," Ari said, rubbing the back of her head with embarrassment.  
"Now she's gonna think…never mind. What do you want, curse breaker?"  
"Remember when we met?"  
"Vividly."  
"And you offered to set me up on a date?"  
Andre stopped in his tracks to look her up and down. "Are you asking me to set you up?"  
"Yeah, for the upcoming Hogsmede visit. Normal stuff, remember?"  
"And there's no one else you'd rather go with?" He asked, emphasizing his words.  
"No?"  
"NO ONE ELSE?"  
"Merlin Andre are you okay? No, no one else, just someone you think I'd be good with. It'll be fun. I've never been on a date before."  
"Okay, curse breaker. You got it." Andre watched her scurry off.  
"What was that all about?" Tulip stopped next to him.  
"Ari asked me to set her up on a date," he said, moving towards the staircase again.  
"Oh good, I'll win the pool," Tulip smiled, falling into step.  
"No, not with Charlie. With anyone. Literally any random loser I can conjure up, she will go out with."  
"What?" Snarled Tulip. "She said that?"  
Andre rolled his eyes. "Well, not those exact words, but that was the gist of it."  
"So set her up with Charlie!"  
"Oh you sweet summer child," Andre waved Tulip off. "You can't force them together just so you'll win the bet."  
"Of course I can! How can she POSSIBLY think that going a date with someone else is a good, healthy idea? Doesn't she have EYES? Or a BRAIN?"  
"I ask myself this every day."  
Tulip suddenly began laughing. "Oh I have the best idea. Andre, pick someone awful. Someone just…terrible, and utterly self obsessed, but also loathsome at the same time."  
"I'm not going to help you win the bet," Andre scowled. "I have the winter ball, remember?"  
"If you pick someone amazing she'll go with them instead you lump." Tulip responded before stalking off.  
"What was that all about?" Charlieasked as Andre sat down at the Gryffindor table. He wanted to talk Quidditch, and who better than Gryffindor's own Charlie Weasley? "Just Tulip being…Tulip."

"Ari!" Charlie was out of breath by the time he caught up with her. She was almost to the lake, book in hand, blanket tossed over her arm. She was planning to read under a tree.  
"Hey Charlie, what's up!"  
"Your brother's journal," he breathed, putting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "We should go get it this weekend."  
She tossed her book down into the grass and turned to him. "What part of 'no more Jacob' was I not clear about?"  
Charlie frowned, remembering what Penny had said.  
"It's her only link left to Jacob. I know she's missing it. You should get it for her."  
"It's your last link to your brother."  
"That journal was full of pure nonsense, the writings of someone who was unwell," she said, smoothing out her blanket. "And I don't ever want to go back into the forbidden forest. There is a literal dragon in there."  
"Did you drop it under the dragon?"  
"I don't know where I dropped it, Charlie and I don't want to find out. I want to do normal things."  
"Since when? All this talk of normal, you were always normal. What's more normal than wanting to find out what happened to your first friend?"  
She looked at the shiny prefect badge on his chest, eyes narrowed. "No, Charlie. Everyone calls me curse breaker. I'm constantly in trouble. Slytherin wins the house cup every single year, in part because I'm losing so many house points skulking around. I never just get to be, to sit under a tree with a book and read. Or do anything that isn't obsessing over my brother. How often do you think about Bill?"  
"That's- what is your book about, anyway?" He snatched it out of her hands. "'Curses And Cures: The Modern Guide to Dueling'." His voice trailed off as he read the book.  
"I'm thinking of starting a dueling club," she admitted sheepishly.  
He took a step back. "Normal Ari wants to start a dueling club. Okay."  
She jumped up, furious. "Compared to "normal Charlie" who wants to drag me back to death's door just so he can look at a dragons again!"  
"I said I was sorry!" He shouted back, unsure why they were even yelling. He wasn't really angry with her. He was just frustrated that she seemed hellbent on trying to shove herself into this "normal" box when she was so obviously extraordinary.  
She sat back down and picked up her book. "I'm a really good dueler, Charlie."  
He turned around and left without another word. He knew she was. That didn't mean she couldn't do both. He didn't understand why she couldn't see that she'd always been a normal girl who did normal things while also being the best curse breaker Hogwarts had ever seen. She'd outfoxed Madame Rakepick, one of the best cure breakers in the world, and even Bill seemed to think he would never be quite as good as she was. She had cultivated close friendships with people in every house which was more than most people could say and she'd opened four cursed vaults.

"You look mad," Ben noted as Charlie stormed into their dorm room.  
"Yeah, Ari and I had an argument," he said, flopping onto his bed.  
"Is it over Peter Gibson?"  
"Peter Gibson?" A Gryffindor seventh year with dark black hair and blue eyes and a penchant for dating girls younger than him.  
"Yeah, Ari's going on a date with him."  
"WHAT?" Charlie shouted it louder than he meant. Ben recoiled slightly.  
"Hey man don't shoot the messenger, it was Andre who set them up."  
Charlie almost exploded all over the room. How could Andre set Ari up with someone? How could Ari agree to it? He had hoped, foolishly, he now realized, that she felt the same as he did. He fell back again. Obviously she didn't. She'd made it clear down at the lake, hadn't she? They were barely friends and it was stupid of him to think she'd ever like him.  
"You could always ask Andre to set you up…" Ben offered but Charlie shook his head. He wasn't going to date just to date.

*  
"GIBSON?" Tonks exploded the second Ari walked into Herbology. Rowan and Penny were both frowning at her. "Are you for real?"  
"He's…" she trailed off when she saw the looks on their faces.  
"A git," Rowan supplied.  
"Self-involved?" Penny asked.  
"Kind of creepy, if you ask me," Tonks interjected.  
"Well, I didn't ask. Peter seems perfectly nice, he asked me in person and everything."  
"Is that all it takes? Because here, will you go to Hogsmead with me?" Tonks retorted, pulling her gloves on with more violence than she intended. "That's a low bar."  
"You're being unfair," Ari complained, grabbing her pot and going to the other end of the table.  
"How long is she going to torture everyone with her normal girl stuff?" Penny whispered as Sprout sailed in. Rowan shrugged.  
"You know that once she gets these ideas it's impossible to sway her. We've got to just let this run it's course."  
"Peter Gibson dated a third year last year, for four months." Penny said, eyes narrowed. "His is not a good guy."  
"Ari can take care of herself," Rowan said firmly. "If we support her and pretend like nothing is out of the ordinary this will fizzle out really quick."  
"Yeah," Tonks muttered to Penny once Rowan turned away. "But at what cost to my chances in the pool?"  
Penny nodded.


	4. Diamonds

_Out of the shadows we saw the sun_

_Now the tables have turned and it's our time to shine_

_A little patience, it goes far. We've been dancing in the dark_

_A clearer sky hides behind all the dark clouds_

Everyone was on pins and needles when the first trip to Hogsmeade rolled around. Ari had taken off early before anyone had gotten a change to see her or say anything to her, leaving the rest of them to wildly speculate.

"He's been asking me about her for years," Andre admitted as they walked down to the village. "It just made sense."

"Wrong. Nothing about this makes sense," Tonks corrected.

"This is going to be so good for her," Tulip smirked, confident that the date would be a total disaster. Next to her, Penny looked over at Charlie who was silently brooding.

"We should get some butter beer," Barnaby decided, bored of speculating on Ari's love life.

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to Zonko's," said Tulip. Tonks jogged after her.

"I want to check out a book," Rowan admitted, veering towards the bookstore.

"Boo!" Ben called after her but Rowan ignored him.

"I actually need potion supplies, but I'll catch up with you later?" Penny told them.

"I guess it's just us guys today," Ben noted once Penny was gone.  
"Speak for yourself. I also have a date," Andre mock smoothed his hair back, flashing them a smile. "I will catch you guys later."

"Fine, just us," Ben reiterated, looking at an oblivious Barnaby and a sulking Charlie. "Perfect."

Things were off to an okay start. Peter was tall and handsome and dressed well. She had put on a soft, strappy lavender dress and some nice, knee high boots. It was too chilly for the open back she was sporting so she'd tossed a black cardigan over it, her hair loose and curled, her face lightly made up. Peter seemed impressed when he saw her which was what she was hoping for.

He'd taken her to Madame Puddifoots which was not what she was hoping for. Everyone here was so…intimate. She barely knew him. They were shoved into a corner and the table was so small it was nearly impossible not to touch him if her hands were resting on the table. She kept them in her lap. It was obvious he had much more experience with girls and dating in general which made her nervous.

"What's your favorite class?" He asked after one foaming beverage with two straws was set in front of them.

"Uh-"

"Mine is potions. I know Snape can be an ass but potions itself it so soothing, and unchanging. You don't need a lot of fancy pronunciations or hand waving, just an ability to do math and measure, you know?"

She nodded, and was surprised when he kept talking. He had asked her a question, hadn't he? Didn't he want to know her response?

She looked around at the other couples who seemed to at ease with each other. Kissing, touching, laughing. She wanted that. She looked back at Peter, who didn't seem to realize her mind was wandering.

"Are you nervous?" He cut through her thoughts.

"A little," she admitted. He laughed, which bothered her. "I've never been on a date before."

"I have to admit, when Andre asked if I wanted go on a date with the cursed girl I was shocked. I didn't think you cared for anything or anyone but your brother. I thought, 'this will probably make a good story' but you're not as weird as I thought you'd be."

It was dawning on her that this was a terrible mistake. She was suddenly hot, maybe from her own embarrassment, and she shrugged off her cardigan. She saw him look over her. He wasn't even subtle as his eyes stared down her breasts. Her cheeks were burning.

"You came…as…what? A joke?

He leaned back, regarding her carefully. "No…more of a curiosity? I think everyone is a little interested in what you're like, personally but you're impossible to get near. And it's not like you're…not attractive."

She blinked, rapid fire, to keep from crying. "No, right. That…that makes sense."

His smile never faded. He leaned forward again, hands inches from the drink they were supposed to share. "Don't take it personally. This is going to be a fun day, I promise. You'll tell me all about you and I'll-"

She reached forward, purposeful, pretending to reach for the drink but instead knocking over, drenching his arms and his lap as it spilled down the table.

"Oh Merlin, I'm so clumsy," she said as a waitress rushed over with napkins.

"No worries, I'll just-" he pointed his wand towards his pants but she was already rushing towards the back, where the bathrooms were. It was also where the kitchen was. Ignoring the stairs from the workers, she crossed the kitchen and walked right out the back door into the chilly, late September air and a back alley. She'd left her cardigan on the back of her chair.

She began walking quickly until she was back on the Main Street, letting herself become faceless among the crowd of people walking. She could suffer the chill if it meant avoiding him.  
He was supposed to go because he liked her, not because she was some oddity to stare at and then report back on. How long before rumors were swirling around about her. Ari Young, cursed girl and had never been on a date. Foolishly thought Peter Gibson might like her. Her cheeks burned with humiliation. She could hear people laughing at her already. Lost in her thoughts and half blinded by tears, she crashed into a solid object and went sailing to the ground.

"Ari?"

"Sorry Charlie," she said, brushing off a leaf that had fallen into his shoulder. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

He stood up, offering her a hand and pulling her up. "Don't you have a date?" He asked, noticing that she was heading back up to the castle.

"It wasn't what I was expecting," she admitted. "He just wanted someone to laugh at."

Charlie frowned. "Laugh at what?"

"Me," she said miserably, staring down at her shoes as they walked.

He fell into step with her, glancing over. She looked so nice in her dress and he'd never seen so much of her skin at once. Straps criss-crossed all along her back, stopping short at her lower waist and the dress was cut at her mid-thigh. Her legs were encased in brown boots that somehow made her legs look longer than they were, her shoulders were exposed…and covered in goosebumps. He pulled his jacket off and draped it around her shoulders.

"You don't have to do that," she said, but shrugged her arms through it just the same.

"I've got a sweater on," he said, showing her the dark blue sweater with a hand stitched 'C' on it. "Why do you think he wanted to laugh at you?" Charlie finally asked.

"He pretty much said so," she told him. "He called me a curiosity."

Charlie's frowned deepened. "A curiosity? He said that?"

Ari nodded. Charlie stopped her. "You're not a curiosity, Ari. You didn't deserve that."

She offered him a half smile. "Thanks Charlie."

His mind was racing, both furious with Peter for having said that to Ari and for a way to cheer Ari up. It was clear that Hogsmeade was off the table but what about something inside Hogwarts? A light flipped on his head. He had an idea that, hopefully, would both cheer her up and make her forget all about Peter Gibson and everyone else who couldn't see past her strange brother and her curse breaking obsession.  
"Want to do something?" He asked, hopeful.

"Like what?" She responded. It looked like she was resisting the urge to cry, which bummed him out. He took her hand.

"Come with me."

Penny burst into The Three Broomsticks and dumped her bags in the booth next to Tonks. "Ari ditched Peter."

"What?!" Andre choked on his butterbeer. "After all the effort I went to?!"

Barnaby patted him on the back.

"How much effort was it really?" Tulip asked, rolling her eyes. "Gibson would, and has, dated second years."

"I feel like he'd date an inanimate object if it was distinctly female shaped," Ben added, causing Tonks and Rowan to giggle into their drinks.

"Who told you this?" Andre asked suspiciously but Penny waved him off. If she was saying it, it was true. She never spread uninformed gossip.

"I looked all over the village for her," Penny told them, tossing her braids impatiently over her shoulders, "but she was gone. I can't prove this but someone swears they saw her and Charlie walking back to the castle together."

"Merlin's beard!" Tonks bounced in her seat, rubbing her hands together. "Get ready to pay up suckers! I had first Hogsmeade visit, sixth year!"

"Walking together doesn't equal together, Tonks," Tulip snapped.

"Pay up? What are you talking about?" Rowan asked. The table suddenly became uneasy. Tonks had accidentally blew their cover. No one had told her about their little bet because they were certain that she would tell Ari.

"Nothing," Penny smiled, "So do you-"

"Do you guys have a bet on when Ari and Charlie will start dating?" Rowan interrupted, straightening her glasses on her face.

"No!" Tulip lied quickly.

"That's absurd, she's our friend!" Andre added.

"Yeah we definitely do," Barnaby said, eliciting groans from everyone.

"I can't believe you wouldn't include me!" Rowan said with a twinge of outrage.

"Well…we didn't want you to tell her," Ben told Rowan.

"And your track record of keeping things from Ari is really bad," Penny added.

Rowan fished in her pocket and pulled out two galleons, slamming them on the table.

"I want in. Who has what? Because I guarantee you're all wrong."

"I've got first Hogsmeade visit this year," Tonks said.

"The winter ball this year," Andre told her.

"End of the year, seventh year," Penny said.

"End of the year but this year." Was Tulips guess. Ben had decided on the end of the year ball for seventh years and Barnaby had picked "in a cursed vault" with nothing more specific than that.

"Okay, put me down for the summer before our seventh year," Rowan decided.

"You can not tell her about this to even up your chances," Tulip warned.

"Please. I can keep a secret or two from Ari."

"You're in."

*  
He had taken her to the kitchen, where the house elves happily brought out sandwiches, and then out to the edge of the lake. Usually people would be loitering around but because it was a Hogsmeade day, no one was there but the two of them. She was smiling as Charlie talked about dragons and his plans to become a dragonologist when they graduated.

"What about you?"

"Me?" She smiled. "I don't know? Curse breaking feels really obvious..but also kind of right. It combines all of my favorite things."

"What's that?"

"Dueling and unraveling mysteries duh."

"And my brother," he added, immediately annoying himself. Why bring Bill up at all when things were going so well?

"Yeah, and Bill. I imagine we'll develop a healthy rivalry," she mused, looking out at the glass-still water of the lake. "But of course I'll always be a little better."

"Naturally," Charlie agreed, relaxing.

"Honestly, your plans sound so much more amazing. You'll have your own dragon sanctuary in like, five years."

His eyes lit up again. "I hope so."

Of course, in his fantasies about life after Hogwarts, she was also there. Sometimes she was helping him run it but more often she was doing her own thing while he did his, but she came home every night to be with him. That was the ending he preferred, because he knew dragons would never make her as happy as they made him. He wondered what her fantasies looked like, and if he ever featured in them.

Would he be happy if all she ever wanted was to be friends? It was something he'd thought about a lot since they'd gotten back, especially after hearing she was going on a date. He was decided though. Being friends with her was preferable to not being around her at all. He could swallow his feelings if it meant being in her life in some capacity.

Ari tried to hand Charlie back his jacket when they walked back into the castle. She didn't want to part ways but he had mentioned getting a jump start on some homework and it was probably better if the whole castle didn't seem them laughing it up down by the lake after what happened with Peter.

"Nah, keep it," he said, which confused her.

"Won't you need a jacket?" She asked, trying to hand it to him again. She caught his eyes drift from her face down to her shoulders before shooting back up again. Moments like that made her sure that he liked her. Sometimes it seemed like he was being too careful for someone who was just her friend.

"I've got other jackets."

"Seriously, take your jacket," she shoved it into his arms. "I don't need it, I'll be fine."  
He took it from her with what felt like reluctance. She was reading too much into their interactions. She needed to relax and take a deep breath. Charlie was always rescuing her and he was cute and funny and honestly what wasn't there to like about him? She was going off on a tangent. She shook her head.

"I'll see you at dinner?"

"You will."

Despite the disaster of a morning, the rest of the day had turned out pretty well. Ari was sitting next to Rowan, across from Penny and Tonks at dinner which gave her a perfect view of Charlie and Ben. They were making eye contact and then looking away, which was so first year but she couldn't stop herself. Penny and Tonks were charitably pretending they didn't notice as Penny went through all of the newest gossip from most to least interesting.

"So then Deb told Jackie that Jennifer told her that Roger just started screaming which of course is completely believable if you remember his meltdown two years ago on the Quidditch pitch when he lost- rather brutally, I might add- to the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but of course everyone wants to just pretend that was a one off. And I told Deb that no one should be shocked that Roger would lose it like that-"

"Ariadne!" Peter Gibson strode into the great hall, Ari's cardigan draped over his arm. Her stomach dropped to the floor. She hadn't anticipated a public confrontation. Penny and Tonks twisted around to see who had shouted and when they saw it was Peter they turned around.

"How pathetic is this going to be?" Penny asked as she rolled her eyes.

When Peter reached their table he threw Ari's cardigan at her with force, though because it was a soft piece of clothing it didn't do anything but add to her humiliation. Behind him, she saw Charlie and Ben jump out of the seats, wands raised. She wanted to sink into the floor.

"Oooh, what did Young do this time?" She heard Merula shout from behind her.

"Shut up, Merula," Barnaby's voice answered fiercely.

"If you didn't want to spend time with me, you could have just said so," Peter spat. "Not that anyone would expect better from Jacob Young's sister. He was an animal too."

Tonks was on her feet so fast she knocked her goblet over. Next to her, Rowan had whipped her wand out and was pointing it directly at him. Ari was frozen, her eyes locked with Peter's.

"You're not cute enough for this kind of shit," he added. She heard a plate fall to the floor behind her followed by Andres voice: "Tulip sit down."

"I just want to offer a rebuttal," Tulip's voice snarled.

"In fact," Peter didn't seem to notice the wands pointed at him or the fact that the hall was now completely silent. "You're just a common bitch." He turned around and strode out, his face triumphant. Ari's own face was burning as she watched her friends sit back down. She avoided looking at Charlie and instead looked at her own plate, which seemed completely unappetizing.

"Well!" Penny said as the noise around them picked back up. "He's completely undatable now. I'm going to personally make sure of it."

"I don't understand why he's so mad," Ari said miserably. "He practically said he was only there because I was so weird."

"He said what?!" Penny's face was livid.

"Scoot over," Tulip instructed a nervous second year next to Ari before squeezing him in. "How are we getting him back?"

"Dung bombs in his dorm for the rest of the year?" Tonks suggested.

Ari shook her head. "No, leave him alone. It'll just give everyone else a reason to talk about how strange and awful I am."

"You're right," Tulip said quickly. "If you'll excuse me…"

She squeezed right back out and took off running.

"Hey wait up," Tulip called after Ben and Charlie.

"This isn't about you Tulip," Ben snapped, taking a sharp right towards a staircase.

"This is Gryffindor business."

"Like hell it is," Tulip responded. "This is Ari business which is my business." Tulip was feeling extra angry and protective, as Ari was the first real friend she'd ever really had. Without Ari she wouldn't have any of the good things she had now: Penny, a group of friends that genuinely loved her, a feeling like she belonged. Before Ari she'd been friends with Merula, who was no friend at all. Merula made her feel stupid and useless unless Tulip had something to offer Merula. Ari, and by extension the people she surrounded herself with, never asked anything from Tulip other than just her friendship.

"How DARE he say those things!" Ben exploded. "No honor! No decency!"  
Next to him, Charlie's face was as bright red. Tulip ran ahead of them, forcing them to a stop.

"If you go in there and jinx him to oblivion you're gonna get a lot of detention," she said, hands raised.

"Good," Ben said uncharacteristically. "What he did was cowardly."

"Right, but think this through. There are ways to punish him that would be subtle."

"I don't need tricks, Tulip," Charlie said through gritted teeth. Ben and Charlie walked past her, leaving her standing, watching them.

"What about your prefect badge?!" She shouted at Charlie. He paused for a moment and then unpinned it and slipped it into his pocket.

"What badge?" He said over his shoulder, continuing up with Ben.

"Ughhhh," Tulip groaned, turning back around. Tonks was not going to be any help since she shared a house with Ari and would be forced to help run interference. She paused for a second, considering her other options. Andre or Barnaby.  
Her musings were interrupted by Barnaby and Rowan walking out of the Great Hall together. She'd take that combination.  
"Where are you guys going?"

"Outside," Barnaby said mildly.

"Together?" Tulip said, annoyed no one would let her help get a little mischievous revenge.

"Just…fresh air."

"Cut the shit. What are you guys doing."

"We're making a minor adjustment to Gibson's quidditch uniform."

"Oh perfect. I want in."

Charlie, with Ben at his side, climbed into the portrait hole and strode into the common room where Peter was lounging, talking to a fourth year. So much for being broken up over Ari, Charlie thought, his anger boiling over. This wasn't about hurt feelings so much as hurt pride. Charlie had been watching Peter date voraciously since he got here, and discard them when he was bored. What girl would have ever dared to do to him what he just did to Ari?

"You're a coward," Ben declared. "You could have talked to her alone." Charlie thought it was out of character for Ben to confront anyone, let alone someone as popular and powerful as Peter. But then, Ari had always stood by him, even in his less honorable moments. Maybe Ben felt he owed her?

"Why? You can't talk to someone like her rationally. For years she's been unleashing curses on this school and for what? Her strange brother? Someone needed to put her in her place."

"And that someone was you?" Ben asked, incredulously.

"You didn't think you were good enough for her, did you?" Charlie scoffed. "What about you could possibly interest the curse breaker?" He gestured up and down at Peter, in an attempt to wound his ego. Peter sat up, his face losing it's easy, unaffected look.

"Trust me, we are all too good for her, including you, chum. You could have any girl in this place, why even waste your time? Trust me, I sat in front of her day and she was a complete bore."

Charlie and Ben looked at each other and before another word could be said, Charlie tossed his wand to the side and punched Peter in the face. And then again. Peter attempted to swing back but was no match for Charlies rage. He didn't know what had come over him. He'd planned on giving Peter an ugly face with a hex. All the anger he'd felt ever since he'd found out Peter would be taking out Ari was coming out of his hands. It felt good to unleash it, just for a moment. In his periphery, he could see his brothers watching but it wasn't enough to make him stop.

"WHOA WEASLEY!" Someone shouted, pulling him off. Another pair of hands grabbed his other arms. He couldn't help it, he laughed, seeing Peter's face already starting to swell and bruise. What good was his handsome face now?

"I'll have your badge!" Peter shouted, wiping blood from his lip.

Charlie tried to lunge again but his arms were pinned behind his back. Peter made a move to strike Charlie, but Ben stood in front of his friend.

"Like I said," Ben spat at Peter. "You're a coward."

Barnaby was on the Slytherin Qudditch team, the best keeper they'd had in years. He knew the locker rooms in and out. Getting into Gryffindor's was easy, especially when he had Rowan to practically blast the door off it's hinges. They found Peter's locker with little effort.

"What are you going to do to it?"

"Just a little distracting techno-rainbow," Rowan muttered, whispering a charm. "It'll light up like Christmas morning the moment he gets into the air so try and keep that in mind because I think you guys are playing him next."  
Barnaby slammed the door shut with gusto.

"Wait!" Tulip shouted, opening the door again. She tossed a couple dung bombs inside. "For good measure. I want to make him completely undatable."

"You and Penny both," Rowan commented dryly. Tulip smiled, pleased at how in sync her and Penny constantly were.

"If Penny says he's gross, no girl will risk dating him," Barnaby said as they hurried out. "She's scary in how much sway she has over everyone's opinion."

"Yeah, I think you mean she's a genius?" Tulip said. Rowan and Barnaby both nodded.

"Do you think we've done enough?" Rowan asked, chewing on her lip nervously.

"No," Tulip and Barnaby said in unison.

"Charlie and Ben were going to confront him, though," Tulip added.

"And Tonks will definitely do something," Barnaby reminded her.

Ari woke up late Sunday morning, dreading the walk down to the Great Hall. Rowan was waiting for her, all dressed and reading in bed.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as Ari fumbled around her trunk for something to wear.

"Fine," Ari responded, trying to sound bright but failing. Her anxiety was at an all time high. She'd rather be trying to explain her actions in the forbidden forest again to Dumbledore over what was waiting for her in the Great Hall. She pulled out a black pleated skirt and bright yellow shirt and put them on as slowly as humanly possible. Though Rowan was staring at her book, she was obviously becoming frustrated. Ari noted that she hadn't turned a page in at least five minutes, a record for the speed reading Rowan.

"Ari!" Rowan finally exploded as Ari was meticulously rolling her socks up to her knees. "Dragging it out isn't going to make it go away, lets just go face everyone."

"Fine," grumbled Ari, running a brush through her hair. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She didn't look great, but it would have to do. It's not like anyone was impressed with her anyway.

In the common room, Penny and Tonks were waiting with Tulip, who treated the Hufflepuff common room as if it were an extension of Ravenclaw's. "Finally," Penny said when she saw them. Rowan shot her a look.

"Just…I'm so hungry, not…anything else." Penny quickly muttered.

"Let's just get this over with," Ari muttered, letting her friends guide her out. Like her own personal body guards, her friends surrounded her as they walked down to the Great Hall. Penny lead like she was the headmaster herself, head held high and looking down at anyone who might dare cross her. Next to her was a scowling Tulip, daring someone to say something. Ari could see Tulips fingers occasionally twitch towards the wand that was hanging out of her pocket.

They sat at the Hufflepuff table, half empty by this point which offered a small amount of relief. She watched her friends begin pile food on their plates like this was a normal morning.

"Oh man," Ben joined them, sitting directly across from Ari. "McGonagall was furious. I just escaped."

Ari poured juice, noticing Charlie silently chewing across from her. He was staring at his plate intently, his prefect badge attached to his chest so prominently she wondered if he'd done it intentionally.

"What happened?" Rowan asked.

"You didn't hear?" Penny asked, eye glinting. "Charlie and Ben jumped Peter last night."

"We didn't jump him…so much as Charlie totally kicked the shit out of him while I kept people off him for as long as possible."

"You did what?!" Ari demanded, fork clattering on her plate. Ben and Penny rolled their eyes at the same time.

"What's the punishment?" Tonks asked, eyes alight.

"Detention and a letter to our parents. Gibson was demanding Charlie's prefect badge, as if McGonagall was ever going to really punish her best Quidditch player and favorite student. She was practically crying, telling Charlie he had detention. She begged him to consider the team at least eighteen times."

"What did he say?" Rowan asked.

"Nothing. He sat there and said absolutely nothing. He was still pretty mad about everything."

Ari watched Charlie get up from the table and walk out purposefully. She excused herself, planning to chase him down, but Merula stopped her halfway out.

"Quite the embarrassment you were yesterday, Young," she said in a sing song voice.

"Get bent, Merula," Ari snarled, her attention focused on Merula.

"It was actually really nice seeing you get what you deserve yesterday," Merula responded mockingly. "I hope it's the start of a new trend."

Ari whipped her wand out. "It's been a long time since I kicked your ass but I would be so happy to do it again." Merula had never been able to best Ari in a duel, despite constantly challenging her in one. Merula pulled her own wand out, eyes filled with hate when Snape strolled up.

"What is going on here," he drawled, sounding more bored than anything.

"A dueling club!" Barnaby appeared out of nowhere, wand also out. "Ari and I were trying to recruit Merula here to our dueling club! Merula really is hopeless when it comes to dueling and-"  
Snape raised his hand, cutting Barnaby off. "You need faculty permission to start a new club."

"I'm…on my way to ask McGonagall right now," Ari bluffed, lowering her wand. Merula looked furious, her attempt to get Ari in trouble thwarted by Barnaby's quick thinking.

"Off you go," Snape motioned for her to leave. With a quick dirty look at Merula, Ari took off with Barnaby at her side.

"Dueling club?" She said once they were out of earshot.

"Charlie mentioned you were interested in starting one. I love dueling, and I've been meaning to ask you about it. I want to help."

She vaguely remembered that conversation from their first week back. "I did say that."

"Also I like watching Merula eat her own feet in front of Snape."

"Do you think McGonagall will let us start a dueling club?" She asked as they made their way up to McGonagall's office.

He shrugged. "Maybe? If she thinks we're trying to channel our energy into something productive she might."

Ari couldn't argue with that, though when she had proposed the idea it had been half baked at best. She wasn't certain she was the best qualified to teach other people to duel.

McGonagall disagreed after listening to Barnaby pitch it. "I think this is a wonderful idea, Ms. Young. You certainly are talented with a wand."

"Really?" Ari said incredulously.

"Don't act so surprised. Of course you'll need someone to supervise, and I am happy to do it but you might also want to consider Professor Sprout as well, when I am unable."

"Really? Professor Sprout?"

"And Snape, of course. He loves the Dark Arts."

"I'll ask Snape!" Barnaby said. That was for the best, Ari thought. Snape might be more willing to supervise if the request was coming from one of his own students. There was no love lost between the pair of them.

"Excellent. It's nice to see the two of you working together towards something constructive. I hope to see more of it."

"We'll do our best," Ari said with little enthusiasm.

"I am certain you will."


	5. Wide Awake

_Sometimes it's over before we can doubt it_

_Turns to dust and then it's gone_

_Saturate enough to be blinded, these colors don't belong_

_I've been falling in my dreams but now I'm wide awake watching it all die down_

_If dreams aren't really what they seem then why am I wide awake watching it all?_

Peters face provided everyone with more than enough gossip for the entire day. Rumors circulated on what had happened.

"It was probably Ari," a second year Ravenclaw speculated.

"No way, I think it was Barnaby. I saw them scoping rooms out earlier today. It's so obvious they're together," her friend said.

"It was probably just Tulip. I know her and punching a boy is definitely the sort of thing she would do."  
"I heard it was Charlie Weasley. Mary said she saw the entire thing, she said it took three people to pull him off."

"UGH excuse me, if you don't mind," Penny shoved through the gossiping second years, making her way towards a waiting Tulip. "All these gossiping Greta's are driving me crazy!" She declared, shooting the girls withering looks.

"That's a bit ironic, coming from you," Tulip commented sardonically.

"Shut up," Penny said with no real malice. "I just feel so bad for Ari."

"Well, you shouldn't. Peter is getting so much heat for what he said."

"Still, it doesn't make up for embarrassing her that way. You didn't see her face. She looked like she wanted to die, and like. I saw her take down boggarts that looked like you-know-who last year without flinching once."

The two of them jogged down the stairs towards Jacob's old hideout.  
"Yeah I remember. Her problem is that she has zero experience with boys and didn't give Andre clear enough instructions when she said to set her up."

"Shouldn't Andre have realized that Peter was a poor choice, though?" Penny asked, unlocking the door.

"You know how boys are."

"Yeah, but still. Andre is her friend."

"Well, in Andre's defense, he didn't make him go just for a laugh. He probably thought they'd have a good, care-free time."

"I guess so. I just.."

"Don't want to blame Ari for what happened?"

"Exactly."

Tulip exhaled. "Yeah, me either. Ari's trying too hard to forget what happened last year."

Penny nodded, picking up the same pieces of papers they'd sifted through a hundred times. "She's trying too hard in general. She is not this girl she's trying to be and it's backfiring on her. She needs to get back to basics."

"Speaking of, look at this," Tulip said, shoving a piece of paper in front of Penny's face.

"What am I looking at here?" Penny squinted. "Looks like trees to me." The piece of parchment was faded, with trees everywhere in a strange pattern. It looked like an absent, bored doodle. Tulip pulled it away from Penny's face so she could look at it from a distance.

"It looks…almost like…" She gasped. "A dark mark."

"That's what I thought!" Tulip said.

"Ari never said anything about her brother being…" Penny trailed off, unable to even finish the thought. The idea that Ari's brother could have been a death eater seemed ridiculous.

"What does Ari really know about him?" Tulip countered. "Nothing. We never considered that he was in to anything…evil…because Ari never did."

"Ari is the furthest thing from evil. There's…you-know-who…then there are…cupcakes, and then there is Ari."

"We have to tell her," Tulip said, folding the paper up. Penny grabbed her arm.

"No. We should definitely NOT tell her anything. At least show Rowan first."

"Rowan is not objective."

"Rowan is honest," Penny said firmly. "If there is a dark mark here, Rowan won't lie if she see's it."

"It would mean telling her what we've been doing," Tulip warned.

"Fine. This is too big not to tell just because we're afraid of people finding out."

Tulip's eyebrows raised into her hairline. "Really? REALLY?" Penny's heart began to race. It was an old argument, one that she did not want to have right now.

Penny exhaled noisily. "Can we not do this right now?"

Tulip put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, actually I think now is perfect. YOU told ME you loved ME, remember? Not the other way around. And yet it's this big, ugly secret I'm forced to keep from everyone! Even our friends can't know. You're so worried about your pristine reputation-"

"It's not that I'm ashamed of you!" Penny cried, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I'm just…afraid. I'm afraid of what people will say about me…how they'll judge me for…not being straight." Tulip wasn't afraid of what people said about her, Penny wasn't like that. It had been fine over the summer. Tulip had said she'd understood, but ever since they'd gotten back it had been the thorn in their relationship. Why can't Penny just get a grip, Penny imagined Tulip thinking. Penny was terrified Tulip would break up with her over it, but she couldn't just wake up and be a different person. She cared about what people thought and she always had. Without her reputation, who was she?

Tulip's anger vanished, like it always did at the sight of Penny's tears. "Who cares what they say," Tulip murmured, gathering Penny up into her arms.

"I know, I know," Penny cried into Tulip's chest. "I'm trying so hard. Even my parents-"

"Our friends will still love us, no matter who we love, and everyone else can eat dirt." Penny wanted to have the same conviction that Tulip did when it came to friends, but she couldn't. For Tulip it was intensely personal, but Penny saw how often people were willing to sell their friends out for information or just their own personal amusement. Would their own friends be any better?

Penny wiped her eyes and kissed Tulip. "We'll go to the dance together, completely out. I promise. Just…let me tell everyone else in my own time, before that."

Tulip nodded, kissing her back. "Anything for you."

"It feels wrong not to be supporting Charlie today," Tonks complained. "And even wronger supporting Slytherin."

"Barnaby is our friend, too," Ari reminded Tonks as she adjusted the green and silver scarf she'd stolen from Barnaby weeks ago. "Besides, I've still got my lion hat." Ari was a sight, in jeans and a black scoop neck t-shirt, a Slytherin colored scarf around her neck and a giant, lion shaped hat on her head. The four Hufflepuffs had agreed they would not support Gryffindor when Peter Gibson was still one of their chasers. Ari was the only one who ever really dressed up, but Penny and Rowan had painted little green snakes on their cheeks as a sign of solidarity. Tonks had flat out refused, saying she'd support Slytherin when she died and not a moment before.

They met Tulip and Ben in the stands. Ben mock gagged when he saw their get up. "You don't deserve to wear that hat," he said, snatching it off her head and jamming it on his own.

"Hey! I still support Charlie!"

"You have to support all of us, or none of us!" Ben declared.

"Slytherin doesn't stand a chance," Tulip commented. "Even with Barnaby. Their team is hopeless."

"It doesn't hurt that Gryffindor has got the best Quidditch player in the school…and maybe ever," Tonks said, peering down onto the pitch.

"That's the spirit!" Ben cheered.

Rowan, to her credit, was practically bouncing in her seat when the teams wooshed out. Their voices were drowned out by a sea of cheers followed by raucous laughter as Peter Gibsons jersey began lighting up like it was at a rave. The back of his jersey had changed from his name to GIT, and was flashing from neon green to pink over and over like a giant sign.

"Did you do that?" Penny asked Tonks, incredulous.

"I wish!" Tonks laughed. "What a genius!"

Ari caught Tulip grin at Rowan, but chose not to say anything. Peter was so distracted by his shirt that he had allowed Slytherin to take the quaffle, scoring twice. The entire Gryffindor team was screaming at him from their positions, although the wind made it impossible to hear what they're saying.

Ben hid his face in his hands. "This is a disaster!" He cried, watching Slytherin score again.

"I feel so bad, it's Charlies first game as captain!" Ari cried, watching Charlie distractedly trying to deal with Peter's shirt. "But even I have to admit, this is hilarious."

Peter did get his head in the game, although he had no success scoring against Barnaby, who appeared to be taunting him every time he got close. Charlie ended the game quickly, winning it completely despite the lead Slytherin had taken in the beginning. Charlie had proven he was unbeatable, his broom skills completely unmatched. Barnaby looked furious as he flew down, storming off as Gryffindor red and gold took the field.

"Party in Gryffindor common room tonight, by the looks of it," Tonks commented, a huge smile plastered across her face.

"Good for them."

"Hey, Rowan, come here." Tulip pulled Rowan aside as she entered the Great Hall later that night for dinner. Next to her, Penny was fidgeting nervously with her hair.

"Is this about Gibson's jersey? No one is going to find out-" She couldn't believe she'd let Barnaby talk her into that. No, she chastised herself. She had talked Barnaby into it. Well, more like she had walked out at the same time Barnaby had, and they'd just agreed to do it. It was no one person idea, except that she'd suggested it AND placed the jinx on his jersey. Since then, she'd been terrified a teacher would find out and punish her.

"No, I need you to look at something, okay?" Tulip unfolded the piece of parchment they'd found in Jacobs room and handed it to Rowan.

"Have you been snooping behind Ari's back?" Rowan asked, outraged. They'd all agreed to let it go. Rowan knew Ari would come around. There was no reason to go behind her back. How could Penny do that? It was definitely in character for Tulip.

"Rowan, of course we have and honestly you should one hundred percent expect that from us but that's not the issue. LOOK at the parchment."

"I can't believe you!" Rowan continued. "She told us not to!"

"She's not the boss of us!" Penny snapped.

"She is when-"

"Just look at it Rowan," Tulip said, exasperated. Rowan snatched it from Tulips hands and looked it over.

"It's just trees…" she pulled it closer to her face. "It's a dark mark. Oh my God it's a a dark mark!" Rowan's stomach felt like a million knotted up snakes. It was a dark mark, doodled with trees.

She looked up at the two of them horrified. "We have to show Ari, we have to-"

Tulip ripped the paper from her hand as Penny shushed her.  
"We will. But not today. Okay? It's been a rough couple days for Ari, let things settle, help us poke through his stuff a little more in the meantime just in case there is something that explains this," Tulip reassured Rowan.

Rowan nodded. "But we will tell her." Ari would be able to explain this. She was unwilling to believe that Jacob had gotten into anything evil. It was just a quirky misunderstanding…his doodle…of a symbol that spelled death for so many people…

"Really, really soon."

She was lurking by the Gryffindor common room, trying to decide if she wanted to go in and see him or not. On the one hand, she definitely wanted to congratulate Charlie but on the other, he had assaulted one of his teammates for her and she might not be very welcome.

On second thought, she decided, better just let him celebrate without having to worry about her. She turned to leave when the portrait opened. As was if she could summon him with her thoughts. He had a bright smile on his face that froze her to her spot. He looked impossibly handsome.

The portrait closed behind him and they locked eyes. "Ari?"

"I, uh…came to congratulate you," she said quickly. "Congratulations!"

"I was coming to see you, actually. Did you enchant Peter's jersey?" His smile was still plastered on his face as he made his way over to her.

"No, I swear. I didn't do anything to him…which I guess is more than you can say."

He didn't stop smiling but he did rub the back of his head like he was embarrassed about it. "He shouldn't have said that about you," Charlie admitted. Ari nodded.

"I wanted to talk to you about it the other day but you seemed…"

"Pissed?" Charlie supplied helpfully as they began a slow walk down the stairs.

"Yeah," she nodded, bumping his shoulder with hers. "Have I said I'm sorry?"

"For what?"

"Going on a date with him in the first place? I'm starting to think I just don't get to be 'normal'." She sighed with disappointment. She had wanted to believe so bad that this would work out for her, that she could just will normalcy into the universe and the universe would accept it without question.

"I don't know why you ever wanted to be," Charlie said with more feeling than he meant. She looked up at him with huge, sea foam green eyes and his heart stuttered. "I just…I mean, you were great before."

"Thanks Charlie," she smiled, looking down at her feet. "What were you doing, anyway?"  
He was half tempted to tell her he was going to see her, because it couldn't be a perfect night if she wasn't in it, but couldn't do it. He knew eventually he'd have to tell her and let the chips fall where they may, but it wasn't tonight.

"Oh, I was going to the kitchen for more snacks," he lied smoothly.

"Well I won't keep the Gryffindor masses waiting any longer," she smiled, although she was disappointed. "You played really well."

He watched her walk off towards her own common room, his heart so full it might explode. She watched him play, she thought he was good, she had come looking for him. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

"HALLOWEEN HALLOWEEN ITS HALLOWEEN!" Tonks screamed, jumping from bed to bed.

"Tonks I don't mean to sound aggressive, but I will literally kill you if you don't stop jumping," Penny said, throwing a pillow at Tonks.

"You guys have been asleep for EVER," Tonks complained, jumping back onto her own bed. Celebrating Halloween was kind of her thing, and they all knew it. They'd been sharing a dorm together for six years, after all.

"It's six am, Tonks. On a Saturday." Rowan buried her face in her pillow. Ari didn't bother to open her eyes at all. Halloween was Tonks favorite holiday. Every year she blew up Filch's office, despite the increased security he placed around it every year.

"I have to get started, I'm so excited. This year is gonna be a BLAST if you know what I mean." Tonks said, giddy with excitement.

"Subtle," Ari called after her. The three dragged themselves out of bed three hours later and dressed themselves. Ari had the perfect sweater for the occasion.

"Where did you find that?" Penny demanded, looking at Ari's bright yellow HUFFLEPUFF sweater, complete with the house crest on it. She was wearing it with a much shorter yellow and black plaid skirt than she usually did and her usual knee high socks and regular black shoes.

"I will never tell, but do you like it?"

"I love it," Rowan declared, linking arms with Ari as they made their way to the Great Hall.

"I've been saving it all year, specifically for today."

"No one can ever say you aren't well dressed," Rowan complemented.

"I think a lot of people could say that," replied Tulip, appearing from nowhere. The four of them sat at their usual spot at the Hufflepuff table, losing themselves in the noise.

"Nice sweater, Young!" Merula called across the hall, flicking bacon in Ari's direction. "You look garish! Perfect for this nightmare holiday."

Ari made mocking noises back at Merula, ignoring her usual taunts in an attempt to enjoy her breakfast. She was also making faces over at Charlie and Ben every time Merula made a comment, which was making them laugh.  
She was in a good mood when she walked out and was even considering tracking down Tonks to see if she wanted any help when Merula and her greasy sidekick Ismelda stopped her.

"I haven't forgotten our duel, Young."

"Really? Because you should have, you are not good," Ari said lightly, attempting to bounce past the paid. Ismelda was smiling, a twisted sight on her normal scowling face.

"I'm going to pay you back!" Merula shouted even though Ari was a foot away.

"Right, I'm sure you're gonna show me." Ari shot back sarcastically.

"We're going to kill you," Ismelda said with a giggle. Ismelda was constantly promising to murder someone so Ari was unimpressed with the threat.

"Give it your best shot and hope you don't botch it," Ari smiled back. "Because I can take you both with one hand tied behind my back."

She sauntered out, proud of her comeback and certain that whatever Merula and Ismelda were planning could not touch her.

Tulip watched as Tonks transformed herself into Professor Snape in order to lure Filch out of his office so Tulip could plant the fireworks Tonks had been stockpiling all year. It was disconcerting to see the pink haired girl become the angry, gaunt potion master she was so familiar with.

"Nope, not falling for it," Filch declared the second he opened his door and was greeted by the sight of Snape.

"I have no interest in what you are or are not falling for. A student is sitting in my office with a cache of fireworks-"

"You caught her?!" Filch jumped up, taking the bait easily, despite having been fooled this exact way for three years straight.

"If you would care to confiscate the contraband," Tonks-Snape said lazily, indicating that Filch should follow. Filch did, racing ahead of Snape. Tonks turned and winked in Tulips direction which was disconcerting.

"That'll give me nightmares for the rest of my life," Tulip muttered as she began stashing fireworks all over his office. She made sure to place them where they would have the most devastating effects: under his desk, in his drawers, and around the door.

She was about to light them when Tonks came running back, drowning in Slytherin robes. "Oh good, just in time. Quick," she said, breathing the spell for fire, and lit them quickly.

"Now we run," Tonks said giddily, grabbing Tulips hand and taking off in the opposite direction.

A loud explosion rocked the castle. Barnaby walked straight into Rowan, knocking her to the ground.

"Rowan!" He exclaimed, extracting her elbow from his rib. Another explosion caused her to jump and out of instinct he grabbed her, pulling her close to his chest.

"It's just Tonks," Rowan said, but another loud explosion kept her glued to his body. She had never been this close to Barnaby- or any boy, for that matter, and it made her feel strange. Did all boys smell as nice as Barnaby did? He had an earthy smell, like he was on a yearlong camping trip all the time.

"I know," Barnaby responded, flinching at the sound of another explosion. They were alone in this corridor which he was grateful for. He didn't need anyone to see him cowering. He was also surprised at how nice it felt to be holding Rowan this way. He liked her, of course, as a friend, but he'd never thought of her outside of someone who was so incredibly smart she was completely out of his intellectual league. He inhaled softly, smelling her hair. The scent was soft, maybe lavender?  
She jumped again, and then they both covered their heads as a series of quick blasts rocked around them.

He could smell the smoke from Tonk's fireworks. They waited a beat, just in case anymore might go off, but it was eerily silent.

"It's my least favorite prank," Rowan complained, lifting her head from under her arms.

"It feels like you're in the middle of a war," Barnaby agreed, still holding her tightly. She didn't move, so he didn't either. He didn't want to let her go, he realized.

She cleared her throat. "I, uh…need to get to the library." He released his grip reluctantly.

"Sorry."

"No, don't be," she responded awkwardly. They both stood, looking everywhere but at each other. "Thanks."

"What are friends for?" Barnaby asked, a little louder than he meant. She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes, and then took off. He watched her, a little disappointed, before running a hand through chestnut brown hair. What was wrong with him?

"Are you in trouble?" Penny asked Tonks at dinner.

Tonks smiled. "So much trouble. Detention for a full two months."

"That's it?" Rowan asked in disbelief.

"What do you mean, 'that's it?' Dumbledore PROMISED to call my mum, too."

They all cringed, hearing that. Having to face their parents was every single one of their worst punishments.

Ari took a drink of her juice. "Does this taste odd?" She asked, taking another sip.

"If it tastes weird why are you still drinking it?" Penny asked, looking at her like she was crazy.

"Didn't Ismelda literally threaten to kill you earlier?" Rowan asked.

Ari rolled her eyes. "She's always threatening to kill me. She's not going to poison me right under Dumbledore's nose."  
"Ismelda doesn't have the brains to whip together a poison," Penny added. "Your taste buds are probably compromised from all the acrid smoke in the air."

"Sorry," Tonks said sheepishly.

The Halloween feast was it's usual perfection. Tulip, Barnaby, Ben, Andre, and Charlie migrated over once dinner was finished and the candy came out and the group had a good time gorging themselves on pasties and candy. Barnaby had them in stitches over his reaction to Tonks fireworks ("I cowered like an actual baby.") while Tulip recounted how Tonks had managed to fool Filch yet again with her Snape impression ("It's like he WANTS me to blow his office up!" Tonks cried).

"There is always candy in the Hufflepuff common room," Rowan had suggested as the feast was winding down. "We should continue this there, no one will mind as long as we aren't too loud."

They were all agreeing, Ari included, when she stopped. Down the corridor, right at the end, was a boy she knew. Tall, curly dark hair, sea foam green eyes. Jacob. They were staring right at each other, and then he turned, and started walking.

"Wait!" She shouted, pushing past her friends and running after him as fast as she could. As a group, her friends all spun to see what she was running after.

"Who is she talking to?" Andre asked, watching the small ginger sprint away.

"Maybe she saw a ghost?" Tonks suggested. "It is Halloween, after all."

Barnaby and Charlie began jogging after her, curious to see what she might be after, Tulip and Rowan at their heels.

"We'll meet you in the common room!" Penny shouted after them.

Jacob was just always out of reach. No matter how fast she ran, he was always just a little faster. It had been like that when they were kids, too. He had been so much older than her but she always tried to catch him.

"Why won't you stop?" She pleaded, looking up at the spiraling staircase that lead to the astronomy tower. Behind her, Barnaby and Charlie had managed to catch her.

"Why are you running?" Barnaby asked, breathing heavy. She indicated above them, where Jacob was standing, clear as day.

"My brother," she say helplessly.

"Your- what?" Charlie and Barnaby both looked up but saw nothing but empty stairs.

"I have to catch him," she said, beginning her run again.

"What? No Ari, there is no one there!" Charlie called after her. No one there? Jacob was right there, a flight ahead of her. How could Charlie not see that.

"Ari stop!" Barnaby shouted, his steps loud on the stairs behind her.

"Stop her!" Charlie said, fumbling for his own wand.

"Stupe-" Barnaby started but Ari was too quick. She promised herself she'd work with him to stun without words, but for now she was grateful for the advantage. Without a word she paused and whipped her own wand up, shielding herself from his spell. Another quick whip sent both Charlie and Barnaby flying backwards. She wasn't going to let them stop her from talking to her brother.

"Bad plan," Charlie groaned, his body bruised from falling down four flights of stairs.

"What is happening?" Rowan asked, having just caught up with the pair.

"Ari thinks she sees Jacob," Barnaby gasped.

"She said her juice tasted weird at dinner tonight…" Rowan suddenly said, looking horrified.

"And Ismelda threatened to kill her," Barnaby added. Charlie jumped up, grateful for the years of intense Quidditch practice that made running up stairs more manageable. Ari still had a massive head start on him, and was walking right out into the open air of the castle rooftop. Imelda might not have the brains but Merula certainly could put together a hallucination potion. They weren't hard to make, and one hair of Ari's would make her see what she wanted to see.

There he was, clear as day, standing under the moonlight. "Ariadne…"he whispered, stepping backwards, hand out, beckoning her to join him.

"Jacob!" She shouted back. "Where have you been!" She was crying, she realized. She hadn't even noticed she'd started. The air around her whipped against her face. "I've been looking for you."

"Ariadne," he whispered against the wind, again. She took another step forward, climbing onto the edge of the tower. She reached her hand out, holding her breath. He was right there. She could almost touch him. Just one more step…

"ARI!" Charlie screamed, having reached the top. She was four steps from pitching completely off the tower to her death. "ARI!"

She didn't hear him. She took another step, and another hand outstretched in the air, eyes fixed on something he couldn't see.

"ACCIO BROOM!" He shouted into the wind, desperate for anything that might prevent the girl he loved from walking to her death. He ran towards her as she took the fatal step off the edge. His broom hit his hand as he watched in horror, almost slow motion, her disappear over the edge. He mounted, kicked off, and dove after her.  
He didn't think he'd reach her. His mind was screaming, a loud, piercing sound, but nothing could stop Charlie from catching anything midair. He was under her, arms out, relieved when he felt her body in his arms. Gripping the handle carefully, he pulled up, and guided them softly onto the grass below.

They tumbled off, his grip never leaving her body. He looked down at her. Her eyes were closed, face pale. Was she breathing. He pulled her up to his chest.

"ARI!"  
She opened her eyes.

"Jacob," she breathed.

"He wasn't real, he wasn't real," Charlie repeated, rocking her against him. She was staring straight ahead, in shock.

"He tried to kill me."

"No, no," Charlie said, shaking his head. "He wasn't real."

"He is," she replied flatly, looking beyond him at something Charlie could not see. "And he's trying to kill me."

Barnaby met them on the grass and grabbed Charlies broom as Charlie slung Ari into his arms. "Is she okay?" Barnaby asked.

"I saw her pitch forward, you with her. I…"

"She's okay," Charlie murmured, more to her than to Barnaby. "Just in shock." Barnaby uncorked a liquid and pried Ari's mouth apart, pouring the thick, red substance down her throat. She didn't fight him, eyes still glassy. What was she seeing now? She hadn't said anything since she told him Jacob had tried to kill her.

"Tulip said she was going to try and get Ari's cup so Penny could see what was in it," Barnaby told him as they walked back towards the castle. "See if Merula and Ismelda messed with it. Rowan gave me this...an antidote to common poisons."

"He tried to kill me," she whispered again. Barnaby looked at Charlie, confused, but Charlie just kept walking, looking straight ahead. However traumatized Ari was, he was doubly so. If he'd even been a second later she would be dead, broken on the ground. His throat constricted, his face grew hot and he could feel tears stinging against his eyes.

He swallowed, walking silently to the Hufflepuff dormitory, Barnaby at his side while Ari whispered that Jacob had tried to kill her occasionally.

It was just the nine of them in there, waiting anxiously. Charlie set Ari down on the plush, yellow sofa and Rowan immediately wrapped in a fuzzy, yellow blanket. Ari drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees, looking straight ahead.

"What happened?"

Charlie recounted what happened on top of the astronomy tower hollowly. No one moved, or seemed the breathe, as they listened, their faces horrified at what he described.

"She just walked right off?" Penny whispered, looking over at a blank Ari. Charlie nodded.

Tulip glanced at Rowan and then pulled out the piece of parchment. "Penny and I found this in Jacobs old study," she said. Ari's head snapped up and she snatched it.

"What is it?" She asked, turning it sideways before pushing it away from her face. She froze again, blinking, and then crumpled it up and threw it across the room.

"When did you find that?" She demanded.

Tulip looked down at her feet. "WHEN?!" Ari shouted, causing them all to jump.

"A couple weeks ago," Penny responded. "We didn't want to tell you…while you were trying to be normal."

Ari slumped back down into her blanket, looking up at the ceiling, tears in her eyes. Ben bent down and picked up and the rest of the group looked at it. "It's just trees," said Tonks. Ben moved it away from their faces and one by own comprehension dawned on them.

"A dark mark?" Andre asked. "Why?"

Ari shook her head. "He tried to kill to me," she repeated.

"Is it possible Jacob was opening the cursed vaults for dark purposes?" Ben asked, a shudder rippling through him.

Ari shrugged. "I barely knew him. He was gone before I was ten."

"We would know, if he was…a death eater," Barnaby said but he didn't sound confident about his words.

"Would we, though? None of the clues he left make any sense. He was really secretive." Rowan reminded them.

"We have to find out," Ari said, silencing them all. "No more normal bullshit. I need to find out what my brother opened."

She didn't know how she did it. She waited until everyone cleared out, and the dorm was completely silent. It had taken longer than she expected. Every time she stirred, one of her dorm mates would move, too, to check on her. One by one they fell asleep, and Ari made a dash out of the dorm before anyone could wake up and catch her, careful to close the curtains so no one would realize she was gone.

There was real danger in getting caught after hours. Filch and his cat were always lurking, and Snape seemed to not need sleep. She still felt emotionally hollow after the events of the evening, nearly walking to her death, seeing her brothers dark mark drawing. She was in shock, she knew it. She should go see Madam Pomfrey. Or tell Dumbledore. She knew she wouldn't.

Clad in a soft pink, short, cotton sleep dress and ankle socks she darted through the empty castle unseen. A miracle, she breathed, once she reached the Gryffindor portrait. She whispered the password to the sleepy lady and then stepped inside. Up six more flights of stairs until she reached the sixth year boys, and slid in, closing the door softly behind her.

"Ari?" Charlies voice whispered in the dark.

"Yeah," she whispered back, crawling into his bed. He reached up and pulled the curtains so no one would see them. She'd been half afraid that he'd send her away, an unfounded fear, she realized.  
He laid back down, hyper aware that he wasn't wearing a shirt, only a pair of thin shorts, and her own short sleep dress. She didn't care, crawling under the blankets and burrowing herself into the crook of his arm.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered after a moment, her voice thick. "I don't know what happened, I thought-"

"Shhh," Charlie whispered, wrapping his arms around her. "There's nothing to forgive you for."

She cried for a while and he rubbed her back in the darkness. "You're always around, when I need saving," she finally said, sniffing. He could picture her in his mind, curled up, eyes stained red, looking more apologetic and beautiful than anyone human being had any right to be.

"I always will be," he promised, pressing his lips to her scalp but not kissing. He just let her be, curled up against him, until her breathing steadied.

Rowan pulled the curtain back to Ari's bed, intending to crawl in and hug her. She had barely slept that night, giving up finally around four am and waiting for the sun to come up. She wanted to talk to Ari about what happened and support her however she could.

She found an empty bed. She walked down to the common room, but it was empty too.

"You're up early," Tonks commented a minute later.

"So are you," Rowan replied.

"Detention," Tonks said morosely, running a hand through her pink hair. "What's your excuse."

"Ari's missing."

"Oh, she snuck out around two am," Tonks waved her hand breezily. "If I had to guess, I'd say it starts with a Charlie and ends in a Weasley."

"You think so?"

"Anyone with eyeballs would," Tonks called over her shoulder before walking out the door.

"Hey Charlie you want to go get-" Ben pulled the curtain back on Charlie's bed to find him half awake, arm draped over Ari. "Oh hey Ari."

"Hey Ben," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten."

Ari exhaled noisily, sitting up in the bed, leaving Charlie lying there alone and a little disappointed. She turned around to ask him if he wanted to go eat or stay in bed but the words died on her lips. Is that what he had been walking around looking like, every single day, casually as if he wasn't the most handsome boy in the entire castle? His shoulders were dotted with freckles that extended all the way down to his forearms. His torso was lean and hard which, she thought, made sense considering how much time he spent running around a Quidditch pitch, but knowing it and seeing it were two totally different things. She resisted the urge to run her hand down his abs and instead looked up at his face. Blue eyes and fair skin were framed by orangey-red hair. He reached up and brushed a piece out of his eyes in what felt like slow motion.  
She jumped out of the bed. "Breakfast sounds amazing Ben, give me like, fifteen minutes and also can I borrow a pair of shorts? I think we're the same size."

"Wow, that was a huge blow to my ego," Ben said, mockingly placing his hand over his heart. He dug through his trunk all the same, and produced a pair of knee-length shorts, which she slipped on quickly as Charlie leaned up in the bed, running another hand through his wayward hair.

"See?" Ari said, pulling the waistband of Ben's shorts out dramatically. "You're still much, much bigger than me."

"They're stretchy Ari, you don't have to patronize me," Ben retorted. "Go get changed, I want to eat!"

She darted out of the room, leaving Ben and Charlie alone.  
"Want to talk about it?" Ben asked awkwardly after a second.

"Not even a little bit," Charlie responded.

"So she was definitely in his bed?" Rowan asked Ben one last time. He nodded.

"Yes."

"Were they dressed?" Tulip asked.

"If they weren't dressed this would be a very different conversation," Ben promised. "It looked like they were just sleeping."

"I don't know why you're so shocked," Andre said, forking a sausage. "You saw them last night. Charlie looked…rabid."

"He watched her walk off the astronomy tower," Barnaby said softly from his spot next to Rowan. "That would upset anyone."

"I couldn't find the cup she drank out of last night," Penny said quickly. "But I'm certain that someone tampered with it."

"Someone, just say Merula," Ben spat. "We all know it was her."

"I hate her so much," Tulip hissed, looking over at the pasty girl two tables down. "Let's blow her common room up, just like we did Filch's."  
"No, no," Rowan interrupted. "We need to get Merula back in a way that doesn't implicate us at all. Especially since Ari said she wants to keep looking for Jacob. We'll definitely be breaking into another cursed vault, so we should minimize the trouble we get in to before that."

"Spoken like a true prefect," Andre said, raising his glass and winking. His own prefect badge gleamed on his sweater.

"Hey Young!" Merula shouted when Ari and Charlie walked in a few minutes later. "Heard you did some late night stargazing! See anything interesting?" She was cackling, Ismelda next to her grinning sinisterly. Ari's stomach dropped as she remembered her phantom brother luring her to her death.

"Ignore her," Charlie whispered but Ari barely heard it, blood roaring in her ears. With no warning she jumped onto the Ravenclaw table in a bid to attack Merula. She planned to beat the smug, stupid look off of Merula's face with her bare hands.  
Charlie grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back as McGonagall and Sprout came charging down on them.

"Ari," he hissed, grabbing both of her hands. "You are an AWFUL dancer!" He said too loudly, twirling her quickly.

"What is going on here? Weasley, Young, explain yourself."

Charlie dipped Ari, her mouth gaping with confusion. "Just teaching Ari here how to dance. She is not good, as you can tell. I keep telling her dancing is all about keeping your feet on the ground," he emphasized those last words, his eyes narrowed, "But Ari here loves to get creative."

"That is so true," Ari responded when Charlie pulled her out of the dip and back up to her feet. "I am completely hopeless and I really wanted to make Hufflepuff proud at the ball this year."

Sprout and McGonagall did not look impressed or convinced. Her anger at Merula had not abated at all. Ari could see her pulling faces behind their back. She forced a smile onto her face.

"The day you make Hufflepuff proud would be a rare one indeed!" Professor Sprout declared, turning on her heel to walk away.

"I look forward to seeing the two of you together, dancing a perfect waltz this year," McGonagall told them before shooting one last suspicious look and walking back to the head table.

"A perfect waltz?" Ari said, looking hopelessly up at Charlie.

"Let's just go sit," he said, steering her by the elbow to the table. "We can worry about that later."


	6. Rescue Me

_Whatever you do, don't ever play my game_

_Too many years being the king of pain_

_You gotta lose it all if you want to take control; sell yourself to save your soul_

_Rescue me from the demons in my mind. Rescue me from the lovers in my life._

_Rescue me._

"Hey mum," Ari started, looking at her parents in Sprout's fireplace. She'd been given permission to contact them after just being upfront with Sprout.

"I want to ask them about Jacob," she'd told her head of house. "I think it will help me understand some things better."

Jacob had been Professor Sprout's student, too, and Ari planned to ask her about him as well. She'd start with her parents, first. After all, they knew him best, having raised him. What she really wanted was reassurance that Jacob was the soft spoken, quiet boy in her memories and not someone who had dabbled in the dark arts.

Her mother's face was a cindered outline in the fireplace, but Ari could make her features out all the same, more from memory than anything else. Curly, dark hair, sea foam green eyes, olive skin, and high cheekbones. Her mother could trace her lineage back all the way to Crete, or so she said. Ari had seen the family tree. It started with one of the first ever witches, Pasiphae, the creator of Crete's famed Minotaur. Ari's mom had been obsessed with the story as a little girl, going so far as to name Ari herself after Mino's and Pasiphae's other daughter, Ariadne, who had helped bring an end to the terror of the Minotaur.

Jacob and Ari had heard the story over and over as little kids. Jacob had always been more interested in the family mythology than she was. Jacob had been given a nice, easy-to-pronounce English name. Ari had gotten…well…the Greek name and everything that went with it. Did her mother have high hopes for heroics out of present day Ariadne too? If so, Ari couldn't help but wonder if she had been a disappointment.

"What is this about, Ariadne?" Her father's face emerged next to her mothers. So much of their father's features had been washed away by her mother, but Ari had somehow managed to inherit his thick, red hair. A common story of her birth always included how much her mother cried when Ari had emerged with wisps of bright, carrot colored hair. It had darkened into a nice auburn as she aged, the only part of her father that had physically manifested in either of his children. Ari had her mothers cheekbones, her olive skin, her green eyes. As she stared at them, she realized how homesick she suddenly felt.

"It's about Jacob," she told them, swallowing hard. Jacob was a taboo subject among Helene and Edward Young. After he disappeared, they stopped talking about him. They had begged her to stop looking for him. Until the drawing of the forested dark mark, Ari had never bothered to ask why.

"What about him?" Helene asked. Her voice sounded guarded.

"I found something of his…just a drawing. I was wondering…what was he like, before he disappeared? Was he normal or like…?"

"Why are we dragging all this out, Ariadne?" Edward snapped. "There's no reason to dredge this back up."

"No, I know, I just. I felt like-"

"You felt like breaking your mothers' heart?" Ari cringed. She could hear the soft cries from the fire place.

"No. I just want to be able to put Jacob behind me, that's all!"

"Jacob was a troubled boy who got mixed up in something he didn't understand and if you're not careful, so will you. Let it go, Ariadne."

With a crack, they both vanished. Ari sighed in frustration, shoving herself away from the fireplace but not getting off the floor. Why couldn't they just talk to her about him? Remove the mystery of Jacob? Did they think it wasn't hard for her?

The door creaked softly behind her. Ari looked over her shoulder to see a sympathetic Sprout watching her.

"Did you hear that?" Ari asked, climbing to her feet. Professor Sprout nodded and indicated for Ari to sit in a chair opposite of her. Ari climbed into the squashy chair, tucking her legs under her as she watched her head of house. "What was he like?"

Professor Sprout considered the question for a moment. "Jacob…he embodied so many good qualities that Hufflepuff's value. He was determined,and hard working. A smart boy who favored defense against the dark arts, not unlike yourself. He was also a good dueler and had a penchant for putting his nose where it didn't belong."

She raised an eyebrow at Ari, and Ari knew she should feel bad but she didn't. Not today. She was aware she was a problem student for Sprout, but in her defense, Professor Sprout also had Tonks, who made Ari look like Rowan.

"Unlike you, Jacob did not have many friends. In fact, I don't think he ever had one at all. He was secretive and even as a first year, suspicious of the people around him. I sometimes…well…sometimes I wondered how much emotion he had the capacity for. As he grew, empathy was not one he wore well. Many, many times, I and others attempted to draw him out of his shell, but he was content to be alone. How he found out about the cursed vaults, I will never know. What Jacob found, I cannot say, but whatever it was got him expelled, and then he vanished. Do you understand why I'm telling you this, Young? If you walk your brothers path, you may end up exactly where he did."

"Do you think he was evil?" Ari whispered, unsure how to digest this new information.

Sprout hesitated, which was all Ari needed to know. "No, I don't. Just young and confused."

Ari stood and smiled, but her insides were cold and she felt sick. "Thank you, so much. Really."

Sprout didn't get up and Ari could tell there was something that was being held back. That was fine. She didn't believe for one moment that Sprout didn't know why Jacob had been expelled.

She didn't care if the adults in her life didn't want to be completely honest. She had Jacob's journal. She'd work on decoding it instead. She could figure this out herself, just life she always had.

Rowan and Ari were sitting in the common room with aqua colored face masks on their faces. Ari had whispered everything her parents and Sprout had said, along with her own feelings that everyone was hiding something from her.

"What would they be hiding, though?" Rowan mused, her dark hair in the messiest bun Ari had ever seen.

"Who knows? Maybe Jacob killed someone? Why wouldn't they just tell me everything?" Ari responded, her own hair pulled back in a fat, French braid. She played with the ends of her hair absently, looking down at Rowan's hands. Rowan was nervously gripping and ungripping the edge of her sleep shirt. It was a habit, one of Rowan's many nervous habits. In a lot of ways, Rowan was like Ben. Maybe that was why Rowan disliked him so much. Ari knew though, that when push came to shove, Rowan was always going to be standing right next to her, no matter how afraid she was.

It was a quality Ari admired, especially when she sometimes wondered if she actually felt fear. It seemed to her that she often ran headfirst into danger without considering the consequences, like most people did. Hadn't Sprout said that Jacob didn't seem to experience emotions? Maybe Ari didn't either.

Except…she had been terrified last year staring down the dragon. And, she reasoned, not just of a fiery death. She'd also been scared to see Charlie hurt, or die, which was empathy. So, maybe not exactly like Jacob.

"Wouldn't we know if he killed someone?" Ari asked, wanting to write the theory off. She couldn't. Everyone had been so nervous, her own parents couldn't talk to her about him.

"Maybe. What if he didn't succeed? That wouldn't exactly be news," Rowan mused, "Besides, it doesn't have to be murder. It could be anything. We should research it."

"How?" Ari began peeling the edge of her mask absently. Rowan smacked her hand.

"Thirty minutes, Ari. You're supposed to wait thirty minutes. And if he did anything noteworthy, two different sources will know: the ghosts, or the paper."

Ari rolled her eyes. "The last time I said hi to the Fat Friar he roped me into an hour long conversation. I'd rather talk to the Bloody Baron."

"Fine. You take Sir Nicholas and the Bloody Baron and I'll track down the Gray Lady and The Fat Friar. If Jacob did anything seriously suspect in the castle, they'd know."

"And the paper?"

"Leave that to me," Rowan said with determination that sounded almost scary. She looked over at Ari. "You can peel your mask now."

"Oh thank Merlin, it was starting to itch."

Research was where Rowan felt most at home. Coming up with a plan, executing that plan, and reading through pages upon pages of old Daily Prophets in order to glean any useful knowledge.

So far, she'd found none. The Fat Friar had been useless, although he reiterated that Jacob was strange and withdrawn, but that wasn't anything Rowan didn't already know. Ari was putting off talking to the Bloody Baron, which was starting to annoy Rowan. Yeah, he was creepy but push past it and just ask. If anyone was aware of the creepy, weird things people were up to in this castle, it had to be him. He was the Slytherin ghost after all.

Rowan was trying to be sympathetic but they needed to know who Jacob was. Why was he even expelled, for that matter? Couldn't Ari ask Dumbledore? Rowan wanted to ask her to ask him, but Ari was on edge lately, and becoming defensive. On the one hand, Rowan could sympathize. This was the brother she'd been searching for for six years, that she wanted back more than anything else.

But…on the other hand, what if what Jacob found was so incredibly evil it had corrupted him? Or, worse, what if he had searched it out because he was already corrupted? They needed to know. They all deserved to know, but more importantly, Ari needed to know if she was walking into something truly dangerous. Ari was Rowan's sister, and losing her would be like losing herself.

She sighed again, tossing the paper away from her. Barnaby, who was reading a book on fire crabs, looked up with a touch of annoyance on his face. "Something wrong?" He was still studying with her in the library, a fact that she'd stopped finding surprising. She actually found his presence comforting, in a way. She liked being around him. Normally studying with other people annoyed her but Barnaby was nice. If she was being honest, she was starting to suspect it was more than just enjoying his company. She liked the way he smiled, how unsarcastic he always was, how he was willing to do the right thing even if it meant being ostracized by his peers. It didn't hurt that Barnaby was also incredibly handsome. His eyes were a deep, emerald green, his hair a messy, chestnut brown. He was tall, and broad shouldered, lean from years on the Quidditch pitch. He was also driven, like she was. He knew exactly what he wanted to do when he got out of this place and worked hard to make it a reality. He wasn't the best at every subject, but he was the best at Care of Magical Creatures. Maybe better than Charlie Weasley. Better, Rowan decided. Charlie didn't get to have everything.

"Rowan?" He asked again, setting his book down. She realized she'd been staring. She shook her head.

"I'm trying to find anything about Jacob, but nothing exists." She got up and moved so she was sitting directly next to him, so she could whisper better without anyone overhearing. A mistake, she instantly decided, when he turned his eyes directly on to her. "Uh...er…"

"Why would anything he did be in the Daily Prophet?" Barnaby didn't seem to notice how flustered she was. "Didn't Ari say she grew up in Greece?"

Rowan blinked. Ari had grown up in Greece, on some remote, hidden island that had been in her family for generation. Rowan remembered Ari telling her this on the train ride to school their first year, as they exchanged information about each other. They'd moved, she'd said, at her fathers urging, when she was little, six or seven. "If he did something, it would have happened here...unless..."

"Unless he started as a kid," Barnaby shrugged. "Look at half of Slytherin House. We started really, really young. Maybe Jacob did too?"

"Barnaby, you're a genius," she muttered, standing up. Time to quiz Ari about her childhood.

"Well," he replied, watching her gather up her papers. "I'm definitely Barnaby."

They were meeting Professor Sprout, their head of house, to talk about career options as their seventh year rapidly approached. Ari was surprised to wake up that morning to a foot or more of snow on the ground. None of them were particularly excited about it, Ari included. Thinking about life after Hogwarts gave her anxiety. She liked seeing her friends every single day in one place. She didn't want to imagine being split up, not seeing each other for weeks or months at a time.

It was already disconcerting how many seventh years were getting engaged. It seemed like anyone in a relationship that was graduating was feeling the pressure to get married. Ari looked at them, smiling faces and rings on fingers and thought they didn't look any older than she did. She certainly didn't feel old enough to be paired to someone for the rest of her life.

The girls lined up with their male counterparts and waited to be called. "When we're done lets meet up in the Great Hall," Rowan said. "Compare notes with everyone else."

"Penny Haywood!" Professor Sprout called. Penny shot them a grimace and walked into Sprouts office, prepared. She knew she wanted to do something with potion making, something that was, ideally, around other people.

"Ms. Haywood…let's see…E in potions on your O.W.L.s-"

"I want to be a potion master, full stop," Penny said, cutting Professor Sprout off.

Professor Sprout raised an eyebrow but didn't argue. Penny had practiced saying that over and over in the mirror that morning, afraid that her natural charm and willingness to go along with other people would lead Sprout to suggest careers she wasn't interested in. Her parents were already dead set on her joining the ministry, which sounded like Penny's personal nightmare.

"Well, there is Saint Mungos," Sprout said, handing Penny a pamphlet, "Which is a rewarding career involved in helping people. There is also a career at the ministry, teaching…" she continued handing Penny pamphlets, "As well as small business options.."

"Wow. I never knew so many different people brewed potions," she said, eyeing the stack in front of her.

"You have options, Ms. Haywood. Remember that."

Rowan went next, practically bouncing up and down. "I want to teach!" She practically shouted when she walked in. Professor Sprout pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering if all her sixth year girls were going to be this forceful when it came to careers. Hufflepuffs, she reminded herself, were decisive. Her girls certainly exemplified that trait.

"Yes Ms. Khanna, you have mentioned that many, many times. Unfortunately there is not an open position that would suit you here at Hogwarts…unless you've suddenly become overwhelmingly interested in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

Rowan shook her head, disappointed.

"If you are serious about becoming a professor at your age, I would suggest a few things. First, consider learning a foreign language. Just because Hogwarts doesn't need someone doesn't mean other schools don't. Second, narrow your focus. Pick one subject you are most fascinated with and really learn it inside and out. I would also suggest spending your summer as an apprentice to someone who is an expert." Sprout handed Rowan pamphlets and pieces of parchment with contact information on it. "Reach out and see if they'd be interested. Most witches and wizards are happy to pass on what they know."

Rowan was breathless at the possibilities.

Tonks sauntered in, certain Professor Sprout would have nothing for her. "Ms. Tonks," Sprout said completely business like. "Sit."

Tonks sat down, flipping the end of her skirt back and forth.

"I spoke with your mother, who seems convinced you will be married and settle down, much like she did around your age. She suggested something a little more easy going for you."

Tonks' face darkened. "I am not getting married. Maybe ever," she added.

"I did let her know that I had not noticed that you were romantically inclined. Regardless, I only have one pamphlet for you in a career I know you would excel in." She slid it across her desk to Tonks, who picked it up warily.

"Auror?" She said with disbelief. "Are you-"

"I have never been more convinced of anything in my life, Ms. Tonks. With your determination, passion, and skill I think you would make one of the finest auror's anyone has ever seen."

Tonks clutched the pamphlet to her chest, eyes pricking with tears. "Thank you."

Sprout waved her away as if it was nothing to her. "Ms. Tonks?" She called as Tonks was about to walk out.

"Yeah?"

"I have personally always thought marriage was overrated."

Tonks smiled as she walked out.

"Ms. Young, my last student of the day," Professor Sprout said, flipping open Ari's file.

Ari nodded, sitting softly.

"Have you given any consideration to what you want to do when you leave?" She asked.

"Curse breaking," Ari said firmly.

"And wouldn't you excel at it? I have a talented group of girls this year," she added, sliding several pamphlets across the desk. Ari picked them up, seeing Gringotts at the front. Behind it were banks in America, France, Ireland…and "Romania?"

Professor Sprouts entire face lit up when Ari said the country out loud. "You never know where you might end up, Ms. Young."

"Romania seems pretty unlikely, though, Ari responded, opening it up. "What could possibly send me out to Romania."

She was annoyed with her head of houses reaction. Why was she smiling like that? "Anything could happen, Ariadne. Keep your options open."

"Okay, spill," Tulip said once all the Hufflepuffs were at the table. Ari was the last person to sit, squeezing herself between Andre and Barnaby.

"You do know what table you're at, right?" She said with no real malice. They almost always met at the Hufflepuff table. Hufflepuffs tended to be more welcoming of other houses.

"Fashion designer, Quidditch player," Andre said, ignoring Ari. "The obvious choice is Quidditch though. I'm going to train over the summer if I can get a player to take me under their wing, and try out my seventh year."

"Magizoologist," Barnaby told them. "Snape seemed pretty disappointed and I'm not sure why. I had an E in Care of Magical Creatures."

"Snape is a git," Rowan assured him.

"McGonagall almost cried when I told her I didn't want to play Quidditch for England," Charlie smiled, running a hand through his hair. "But it's dragonologist or nothing."

"Big shock," Tulip rolled her eyes. "Professor Flitwick seemed to think I should be an auror. Me. Law enforcement."

"Me too! High five!" Tonks said, high fiving Tulip across the table. "Apparently my mum told Professor Sprout I would be married soon, which she hoped would settle me down."

"Married to who?" Ari asked incredulously.

"No one," Tonks said firmly. "If my mom thinks I'm ever getting married she has another thing coming."

"Well, Professor Sprout suggested Saint Mungos for me," Penny said. "Which is much better than a ministry career."

"Hey! I was suggested a career at the ministry!" Ben interrupted.

"That makes a lot of sense," Andre said as everyone nodded their heads.

"Teacher, of course," Rowan told the table. "She said I should expand my options though, and consider teaching abroad."

"She suggested that for me, too," Ari said, fanning her pamphlets out.

"Teaching?" Tulip asked with disbelief.

"No, curse breaking, but curse breaking abroad. Look, she's got normal suggestions, America, France, Ireland…and then Romania."

Charlie's entire face it up. "She suggested Romania? Really?"

"Why would she pick Romania? Isn't Germany closer?" Penny asked.

Ari shrugged helplessly. "She told me to keep my options open."

Barnaby, and Ari were on their way to Jacob's old hideout to flip through his papers. "We need to get his journal back," she said with a sigh. "I lost it last year in the Forbidden Forest."

"How?"

"A dragon was chasing us, I guess I just forgot to be more careful with my things," she said sarcastically. Barnaby was completely guileless and never caught sarcasm, which made conversations between him and Tulip hilarious.

"You'll have to be more careful next time."

She suppressed an eye roll. "Next time."

She unlocked the door and walked in to a sight she never expected to see in a million years. Tulip was sitting in Jacob's old chair and Penny was in her lap. Penny's hair was completely undone, her hand on Tulip's face, Tulips hand up the back of her shirt. Barnaby and Ari froze as Tulip and Penny scrambled off each other.

"Congrats!" Barnaby said once they had straightened themselves out. "I didn't know you were dating!" He turned to Ari, a huge smile plastered on his face. "Did you know?"

She shook her head but she couldn't help but smile, too. "I didn't. Are you guys keeping this a secret?"

"We…" Tulip looked at Penny helplessly. Penny seemed close to tears. She walked over to Barnaby and Ari and squished them into a hug.

"What's happening?" Barnaby asked but Ari shushed him.

"I thought you guys wouldn't want to be my friends anymore if you knew."

"That's the dumbest thing you've ever said," Ari told her.

"Why wouldn't we want to be your friend?" Barnaby wondered.

"Exactly," Tulip said.

"If anyone is or has been mean to you about this, tell me right now," Ari said fiercely. "So I can jink them into next winter."

"I'll help!" Barnaby added. Penny wiped her eyes as Tulip put her hands on Penny's shoulders.

"I told you our friends would not care."

Penny was nodding. "You were right. Let's tell everyone at dinner tonight. I bought a dress for the ball and I don't want to spend this weekend worrying about anything else other that looking amazing."

Ari and Barnaby were bouncing up and down at dinner, waiting for everyone to get there.

"What is going on with you two?" Ben asked, noticing the two of them giggling uncontrollably for the third time in ten minutes.

Ari clapped a hand over Barnaby's mouth when he opened it. "What are you talking about? Everything is completely normal. This is how we always are."

"I mean, I definitely feel like Ari is constantly putting her hands on Barnaby's face, so this is very normal," Charlie responded sarcastically.

"Barnaby and I are very close," Ari said but she couldn't keep her face straight. "We are always touching."

"Because…you're dating in tonight's episode of 'Hogwarts Most Unlikely Couples'?" Andre asked pointedly.

"Friends can touch each other," Ari said defensively.

"I'm pretty sure you've got your hand over his mouth because you know he is physically incapable of keeping a secret," Ben said reasonably.

"Let the man talk!" Andre demanded. Ari removed her hand. She had been moments from doing it anyway because he'd been licking it. She wiped her hand on her skirt.

"Tell everyone what's going on Barnaby," she said, her eyes narrowed as she dug her nails into his leg.

"OW! Everything is normal, just like Ari said."

"Liar. Tell us!" Ben urged.

"You're right," Barnaby said, his eyes darting around. "Ari and I are dating."

"WHAT?!" All four of them shouted.

"We are not!"

"Who is dating?" Rowan asked, sitting on the other side of Barnaby. His face suddenly changed from amused to nervous.

"No one," he said as Ben said, "Ari and him."

Rowan's smile vanished. "Really?"

Ari shook her head. "No, Barnaby and I are definitely not dating."

"You and Barnaby are dating?" Tonks asked, sitting in between Charlie and Ben. "I can see it. Kind of. Only because you're both right in front of me."

"I feel like I should be offended," Ari complained.

"Oh you definitely should be, that was not a compliment," Tonks replied placidly. "I just think you belong with other people, like-"

Ben clapped his hand hard over Tonks face. "Like no one and wow isn't this weather really nice today?"

"It's snowing," Ari responded flatly. "Now who is keeping secrets?"

"We need to tell you something!" Penny interrupted. Ben withdrew his hand from Tonks face and everyone turned to look at Tulip and Penny, who were standing there, holding hands. "We're dating."

No one said anything for a second. "Was that the secret?" Andre finally asked, looking back at Barnaby.

"I kept it! No one can ever say I didn't!"

"I almost wish they had been dating now," Andre said as Tulip and Penny sat down. "You two make a lot more sense so it's not as interesting."

"Now that I know it, it feels weird that I never realized it," Tonks added, looking at them.

"You guys don't care? Like at all?" Penny demanded.

Charlie shrugged. "At least it's not like…Merula or something."

"Why do you have to be like that? Really? Who raised you?" Tulip asked him, a look of disgust on her face.

It felt normal, though. No one was concerned about Tulip and Penny in the scheme of things. Hogwarts, on the other hand, was buzzing with the news. Barnaby had adopted a scowl and would often walk next to the two of them glaring at anyone who dared to say something. Boys, especially, seemed to want to comment on it, which made Barnaby's menacing necessary.

Tulip took a much less subtle approach and jinxed anyone who dared to even whisper in her direction. Ari and Rowan themselves had silenced a giggling group in the library, causing Madame Pince to ban them for an entire week, personally torturing Rowan. There was also a rumor circulating that Andre and Charlie had jumped a Ravenclaw quidditch player after their last match because of a comment he'd made regarding Tulip and Penny, though Charlie and Andre would not comment on it. They took their detention silently.

The excitement surrounding Tulip and Penny died down as the Christmas ball approached. It was only available to fifth years and up and happened over Christmas break this year. Ari's entire group of friends had chosen to remain behind this year and go, unlike the year before when only Andre and Barnaby went. Ari had been forced home for family "bonding" time. This year she had put her foot down. She hadn't been in any serious trouble to warrant spending the break in her room, avoiding her parents.

Both Andre and Ben already had dates and Barnaby had been hanging around the Hufflepuff dormitory more often, leading Ari to believe that he must be trying to work himself up into asking someone from their house to the dance.

Ari was trapped in a waking nightmare. She never realized how popular of a date she was until people started coming up in the hallway to ask her to dance. She couldn't help but feel skeptical of all the attention. The last time she'd gone on a date it had been a big practical joke that ended with all her friends in detention. She wasn't going to go with anyone who asked, just to be safe. She could only trust her friends.

"Shield me," She instructed Barnaby as the pair left Divinations. They were the only two of the group of nine of them still taking it. They had agreed the previous year to continue taking it because they both agreed it was an easy A. Professor Trelawny was an absolute fraud.

"Ms. Young!" Professor Trelawny called. "Do you have a moment? I want to discuss something I saw in your tea leaves."

"I'll wait outside." Barnaby said as Ari rolled her eyes. Ari walked back over to Trelawny to look into her discarded cup.

"You said you saw trees and here, a little bird," Trelawny said, frowning into the cup. "But I see death."

Ari suppressed a laugh. Of course she did. When did Trelawny not see death.

"Oh?"

"This is not a bird, dear, but a dementor, see? See the shape?"

Ari looked into the soggy leaves. She had made the bird completely up. All she saw was a mess of wet leaves.

"Yeah, I see my mistake now."

"Death is coming for you in the form of…family," Trelawny continued. "A family member is dangerous to you."

Ari stared at her flatly. "Wow. Good to know." Even a broken clock was right twice a day.

"Be careful dear!" Trelawny called as Ari stomped out of her classroom.

"What did she want?" Barnaby asked, climbing down the stairs with Ari.

"To warn me of my upcoming death by dementors," Ari responded darkly.

"That doesn't seem likely."

"Well she's not exactly stable now, is she?"

"Hey Ari can we-"

"No!" She snapped, whirling around at the bottom of the stair case. "We can't! We can't do anything!"

Charlie put his hands up defensively. "Everything okay?"

She breathed out. "Sorry. People keep asking me to go to the dance with them and I just assumed-"

"Well I am here to talk about the dance," he cut her off quickly, seeming annoyed. "We told Professor Sprout and McGonagall we'd dance a perfect waltz."

"Oh no…" Ari said, remembering that conversation. "I can't even do a bad waltz."

"We need to practice," Charlie agreed.

"Hey Rowan!" Barnaby shouted, catching up with the dark haired girl outside the library. He'd been looking for her all week.

"Hey Barn, what's up?" She asked, falling into step with the handsome Slytherin.

"Who are you going to the dance with?" He blurted out, unable to stop himself. He had been practicing an entire speech but the moment he saw her it all went out the window. Rowan seemed to know so much, even when she was just looking at him and it made him nervous.

"No one," Rowan answered, sounding surprised. Rowan wasn't like Penny or Ari, an obvious choice. She was too hidden, she thought, behind her glasses and books. She was fine with that, too, she decided. Dating seemed like it made people miserable. Ari had gone on one date and he'd called her a bitch in front of the entire school. Rowan didn't mind skipping that experience.

Barnaby, however, was relieved. He was been privately worried that someone had already asked her. He'd spent a lot of nights laying awake thinking about their interaction on Halloween and how nice it would be to repeat it, without the fear and loud noises. A dance was the perfect environment for that.

"Do you want to go with me?" He said, his words rushing together. Rowan stopped.

"You?" She asked, incredulously. It wasn't like she hadn't noticed how attractive he was, but…what would they talk about? He spent a lot of time with her silently reading with her, but they'd never really had a conversation.

True, she had seen Ari and him laughing together a lot, and Ari liked being around him so much she'd willingly taken Divination and Care of Magical Creatures just so they could hang out. But Ari wasn't interested in him, romantically, either.

"Yeah, me." Barnaby responded, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He refused to wonder if he'd made a mistake. Even if she said no, at least he tried.

"Okay," she agreed after another agonizing moment. Rowan decided that the dance would be a good way to see if Barnaby was deeper than he appeared, or even if they had any real chemistry together. Besides, she reasoned, it wasn't like anyone else had asked. It would be nice to have someone to dance with.

He smiled. "That's amazing. I'll meet you outside of Hufflepuff!"

Rowan watched him rush off, privately pleased. Let everyone call her boring now.

Rowan was waiting for Charlie as he walked off the Quidditch pitch. It was late and she wasn't supposed to be out here, but getting him alone was surprisingly difficult. He was always surrounded by people. Even now, he was walking out with people, although they scattered when he saw her.

"Rowan?" He asked, squinting at her in the darkness. "Is everything okay?"

"Kind of," Rowan told him, falling into step with him. She hoped that no one questioned why she was out of bed. "I need you to do something for me."

"I guess it depends," he responded, running a hand through his hair. He smelled sweaty and somehow like air, even though air didn't really have a smell. His face was flushed red from exertion. Rowan put a little more distance between their bodies. She felt like she could feel the wetness of his skin on hers and it made her skin crawl a little. Sweat was one of the things that skeeved Rowan out.

"What has Ari told you about her childhood?" Rowan asked him. Maybe Ari had told him a lot more than she'd told her. Rowan doubted it though.

Charlie shrugged. "I don't know? Almost nothing. I've never really asked."

"Can you? Specifically about why her family left Greece?" They walked into the castle. Charlie grabbed Rowan by the elbow and she cringed at how clammy his skin felt on hers.

"Why? What's going on?"

Rowan sighed. They should have just told they whole group what Sprout had told Ari. "Professor Sprout mentioned to Ari that Jacob was a…troubled kid. I'm just poking around, trying to see if there was anything about Jacob as a kid that maybe set of some red flags?"

"Does Ari know you're doing this?"

"Kind of. We're trying to see if he did something while he was here that might have gotten him expelled but what if what he did didn't happen at Hogwarts, but at home?"

"Why don't you just ask her. You're her best friend, after all," Charlie responded, his feet moving again. They were walking slowly up the stairs towards the Great Hall, where they'd part ways for their individual dorms.

Rowan shook her head. "She's been so defensive lately. Ask her during one of your dance practices, when her guard is down."

"And then, what? Report back to you."

This time, Rowan grabbed Charlie to stop him. "Yes. Yes, go behind her back and tell me because the possibility that Jacob intentionally got involved in something dark gets more likely by the day and I don't want to watch her chase after him and vanish, too. Do you? Are you comfortably shielding Ari from the truth and losing her? Because I'm not."

Charlie pulled his arm out of her grasp, obviously annoyed. It had been low of Rowan to suggest he was okay with her vanishing. She knew he was in love with her. It's why she was asking him in the first place. Charlie was easy to manipulate when it came to Ari. He'd literally do anything for her, even risk his own safety, as he'd proven last year, going into the forbidden forest with her. He could have been expelled, but he'd gone anyway.

He'd go again, Rowan knew. Just like he'd ask Ari, and report back.

"Of course not. I'll ask her," he retorted, his tone laced with irritation. She watched him huff off, pleased. Now she could wait.

"Charlie let's just go confess to McGonagall right now," Ari said after their third straight night of practicing.

"We're getting a lot better," he argued. "You haven't stepped on my foot once tonight!"

"That's a low bar and you know it," she grumbled, letting go of his hands and stepping away. "We are not graceful at all and the dance is in two days. We can't spend all our time dancing together. My feet hurt."

"We can, and we will. I will not admit I lied to McGonagall. Not after the reaming she gave me last year for going into the forest. Come on," he motioned for her to come back into the waltz. "Keep your eyes on me and let me lead, okay? Just move your feet."

"Easy for you to say," she sighed, but put her hand in his, letting him pull her close, and began moving to no music. She kept her head up, looking up at him and tried to relax.

"You're leading," Charlie whispered. "Let me lead."

"I don't mean to."

More silence punctuated their dancing. Ari was concentrating, her eyes on his face but far away as she tried to remember where to put her hands and feet. Charlie's heart was beating fast, partly because he was actually holding her and it felt nice, but also because he was supposed to be getting her to talk about her childhood.

"You know," he said after a moment, looking over her head, "Bill taught me how to dance. Bill could do anything easily, with almost no effort. I don't even know who taught him. He was probably just born knowing."

Ari smiled, thinking of Bill. "That sounds like him," she agreed. Charlie relaxed slightly.

"Did you and your brother do things like that?"

Ari considered for a moment, accidentally tripping as she stopped concentrating. "Oops. Sorry. No, not really. I followed Jacob around a lot as a kid. I'm sure it was annoying."

"I did too," Charlie told her. "Everything Bill did, I wanted to do, too. He was my hero. He still kind of is."

Ari's smile was huge. "Bill is my hero, too. You and Bill are only two years apart though. There was a much bigger age gap between me and Jacob, which made him infinitely cooler and me way more annoying."

"Maybe," Charlie conceded, lifting her into the air. As she came down, he asked, "Did you guys do anything together, though?"

"There was this one game we played," she smiled, remembering. "We would sneak out to the beach to touch the water. We weren't supposed to do it, so of course we did. I loved playing that game, seeing how close I could get while Jacob watched. He would laugh and laugh…" She trailed off, lost in the memory. Charlie frowned.

"Why weren't you allowed on the beach?" She'd grown up on an island, he thought. She had definitely mentioned that at least once. Maybe Rowan had told him, he wasn't sure. It didn't make sense that she wasn't allowed to play in the water when she was surrounded by it.

"It was cursed," she said so unthinkingly that Charlie almost thought he hallucinated it. "The water had a habit of pulling you in if you got too close and dragging you to the bottom of the ocean. We weren't supposed to play on it."

Charlie's feet stopped moving, but he still gripped her hands. "And you and Jacob tried to, anyway?"

She blinked. "Well…no. Just me, actually. Jacob would…watch."

Charlie's body was rigid, his hands tight around hers. They were frozen in place, both staring at each other as the weight of what she said began to settle around them. In her memories, it had been a fun game they played together and she'd never questioned it. She didn't try and pull her hands out of his, despite how hard he was squeezing.

"The water caught me once, and my dad grabbed me before anything bad happened. We moved, after that. Mom was really upset, we had a really good wizard community around us and she'd grown up there but dad said it wasn't safe anymore."

"Ari…" Charlie murmured but this time she pulled away, turning her back on him. The memory was flooding in, a memory she'd repressed. Her, four years old, giggling as Jacob urged her closer, closer, the water slamming into her. Being submerged, helpless, and then her dad pulling her out, screaming at Jacob.

"It was an accident," she whispered firmly. "We were just kids." She couldn't turn to face Charlie.

"Of course," he said behind her.

"I need to go…" she didn't wait for a response. It had been an accident, she repeated. They were both young and stupid. It wasn't intentional, Jacob had loved her. She'd set out to prove her brother wasn't evil, that everyone was being unfair because he was quiet and curious. She refused to believe he'd been anything but the brother in her memory. The brother who loved her and she loved back.

In the dungeons, Ari found who she was looking for. The Bloody Baron was breezing through, morose looking as ever.

"Hey!" She shouted, running after him. "HEY WAIT!"

The Baron stopped to consider her. "Another Young," he said after a moment. "Curious about the vaults, too?"

"No, just my brother, who you obviously knew. What was he looking for?" Ari demanded. The Baron considered her for a moment.

"We spoke only one time," The Baron told her. "About how why some people who die become ghosts."

"Why was he asking that?" She asked, the back of her neck prickling. The Baron looked past her, ready to move on.

"He wanted to know how a person might…cheat death. Ghosts are still dead, though, and I'm afraid I was not of much help to him. What he was looking for was darker magic than even I had ever come across in my life."

"But why?" Ari asked as the Baron turned his back on her, prepared to glide away. "Why was he asking?"

The Baron paused and turned his head to look at her but didn't respond. Ari watched him float away, frustrated. Why would Jacob need to know how to cheat death? She had all these clues, but none of them made any sense. A weird, childhood memory of a near death experience. Jacob's dark mark drawing. His query on how to avoid dying. Had he found something that had made him afraid he might die?

Now, more than ever, she needed his journal. It was lost in the Forbidden Forest, and she needed to get it back. It had been written entirely in code and she'd never know what to look for. Now she had an idea. Maybe she could crack it.

Maybe she could find out what her brother had discovered hidden in the cursed vaults.


	7. Capital Letters

_We put a crack in the shadows and you tell me it's okay to be the light_

_And not to swim in the shallows, and I want to get drunk with you_

_When we lie so still, but you're taking me places, holding me on to you._

_And we don't care who's watching us_

Ari was walking into the last Care of Magical Creatures class before Christmas break, in a good mood despite how cold it was. She was bundled up, her face hidden under a yellow and black scarf, only her eyes visible. Her mind was preoccupied with Charlie, who she could see sitting on a log, sketching in his book. She'd shoved Halloween out of her mind but occasionally the image of him, shirtless, popped back up in her brain. With the dance looming closer she was becoming more and more keyed up.

It was all but impossible to deny she had feelings for him anymore. What those feelings exactly where, was more complicated. A person more introspected might have spent some time trying to untangle them but Ari was comfortable with avoidance. Couldn't she just revel in the memory and do nothing tangible to make seeing more of him a reality? After all, she wasn't convinced she was the kind of person someone could really love. Hadn't Peter proved that? Everyone who loved her left her, or lied to her, or both.

She didn't want to watch her and Charlie devolve into that. She was scared, she thought, stepping through the wooden gate into the classroom. He was in his usual green jacked, his bag sitting next to his brown boots. His hair was in it's usual messy, low pony tail, the shorter pieces in front falling into his face. He was engrossed in his drawing, unaware of anything around him. Why couldn't she imprint that image into her brain, she asked herself as she pulled her scarf down to expose the rest of her face. She inhaled the cold air sharply, suddenly angry at herself.

She had no right to want anything else out of him. She'd drag him down with her.

"You're staring," Barnaby said, pulling Ari off to the edge of the space, right against the fence. He'd been waiting anxiously for her to arrive, getting there before anyone else so he could intercept her. He'd let himself get distracted, thinking about what the day's lesson might be about. Magical creatures gave him peace where he had so little. His family had been deeply involved with You- Know- Who and had spent his child hood training him up to be a blindly loyal follower and brutal, unforgiving dueler. For thirteen years, his thoughts had been overwhelmingly preoccupied with violence. No one saw him as anything but.

Ari was different. She'd seen him, though. It was a gift, he privately thought. She'd challenged him to leave Merula on his own terms, a duel. Had she really beaten him, or had he let her? Even now, he didn't really know. It was unthinkable he'd ever let anyone best him in a duel, but since he'd joined her little circle of friends he'd found peace. He'd been given space to care about things outside of the dark arts, which he had realized, he cared very little for.

His real fear was that everyone discovered just how close his family had been to You-Know-Who and judged him for it. He couldn't help his parents. He knew, if he'd been given a chance, he would take a different path. He was already on one, one that had ostracized him from many of his Slytherin peers, though none of them were willing to confront him directly.

He suspected things would get worse for him when they saw him dancing with a Hufflepuff, but he didn't care.

Ari snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Now who's staring?" She asked, her cheeks flushed from the cold. He shook his head. Still her, he realized as he followed her gaze back over to Charlie.

"You," he replied. "But I'm not here to make fun of you today. I have something for you." He reached for the lapel on her coat and pulled her up against his body. Her eyes widened.

"Barnaby," she said, their faces so closed she could smell his hair. He kept his eyes locked on hers as he pulled something out of his pocket and quickly slipped it into hers. Anyone watching them might think they were having an intimate moment instead of passing a stolen object from one hand to the other. That was important. He didn't want anything to be traced back to either of them. Rumors were easy to ignore when you knew they were fake.

Unfortunately, it was Rowan watching them. She'd come in a few minutes after Ari and plopped down next to Charlie. He was absorbed in a drawing of a dragon, oblivious to everything around him, including the cold it seemed. His ears were bright red. Rowan pulled hood over his head to shield him from the wind. She was about to ask him what he'd found out regarding Ari and her childhood when Barnaby and Ari caught his eye. Barnaby was propped up on the fence, the collar of his coat pulled up, offering a small amount of relief from the cold. His jaw was sharp against the black lines and she shivered. Neither of them was talking, both seemingly lost in thought. Ari's eyes drifted towards Charlie for a second and then back to Barnaby and she snapped in front of his face. Rowan couldn't hear what she said.

Whatever it was, Barnaby jumped down from the fence and grabbed Ari, pulling him against her. Rowan gasped, slapping Charlie with the back of her hand out of instinct. Were they going to kiss?

"What?" Charlie asked, irritated. He followed her gaze to Ari and Barnaby and inhaled sharply. Their eyes were locked on one another, an intense gaze, their breath mingling in the cold air.

And then he let her go and Ari stepped back, shoving her hand in her pocket. Barnaby took her arm and turned her so their backs were facing Rowan and Charlie.

Rowan blinked, her eyes stinging a little. Charlie looked over at the brunette, trying to unclench his jaw.

"I'm sure it's nothing," he said, with no real conviction.

Rowan nodded, unable to stop watching.

"What is it?" Ari asked.

"Something I stole from Merula last Christmas," he told her quietly, looking around.

"You're stealing?" She asked, sounding aghast. Barnaby resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Ari had done much, much worse.

"Having someone's possessions is a form of currency in Slytherin. Merula wouldn't shut up about that stupid flask all last year. It's a refilling flask; you pour something in it and it'll constantly refill itself."

"Why do I need it?"

Still not looking at her, Barnaby jammed his own hands in his pockets as they clenched into fists. "Secrets are also a form of currency. Merula doesn't understand that; she's got a big mouth and she needs people to think she's smart. On Halloween, she had her house elf poison you."

"She WHAT?!" Ari snapped, turning around sharply, unaware she was being watched. Her hair whipped into her face and she brushed it away, prepared to confront Merula, who had just wandered in with her sycophant, Ismelda trailing behind. Barnaby grabbed her, again, annoyed. Ari lacked all ability to think things through.

"Now you know something Merula doesn't know you know," he whispered into her ear, having pulled her close to him again. Ari's face was etched with fury as she stared Merula down. "And you have something of hers she doesn't know you have."

"So what?" Ari snarled, angling her chin so she could look up at him. "I don't need tricks to curse Merula-"

"You promised Rowan you'd stay out of trouble," Barnaby hissed back. "Do things the Slytherin way."

She spun around, green eyes locked on his own.

"And what's that?"

"Tonks and Tulip are planning to spike the punch. Tonks already has a bottle of Fire Whisky. I helped them get it. It's stashed away in the Artefact room."

"Are you suggesting I set Merula up?" Ari demanded. Finally, Barnaby thought. Wasn't she supposed to be smart?

"No, I'm telling you, you should set Merula up. She'd be in detention for months, Snape would call her guardians, she'd lose a ton of house points. More importantly, she'd know she was set up and she'd be furious. She hates it when someone beats her at her own game."

Ari looked back over at Merula, hate blooming in her chest.

"Fine," she said. "Let's do it."

Rowan was distant during class and could barely look at Ari. It was obvious something was wrong, but Ari couldn't think of one thing that might be bothering Rowan. She hadn't been able to focus at all, too busy wracking her brain for what she might have one that would have upset Rowan and had gotten bitten. Merula had laughed and Barnaby had to physically stop Ari with his body to prevent her from jumping on top of her and beating the eyes out of her face.

When class was over, Rowan practically ran out. Ari was struggling to gather up her papers. "Can you get this for me?" She asked Charlie, desperately.

"Yeah but-"He said but she didn't stick around, running after Rowan.

"ROWAN!" She called, but Rowan didn't stop. Ari hated running, she was so bad at it and Rowan was walking so fast it should have been classified as a run. A jog, definitely.

Ari caught up, breathing heavy, grabbing her best friend by the arm and spinning her around. "Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad," Rowan said, obviously lying. Her cheeks were burning red. "Not at you, anyway. Just myself, for thinking that someone like Barnaby could like me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ari demanded. "Of course, Barnaby likes you!"

"I saw you two, together. It's obvious he…I mean…you two almost-"

"What?! What did we do?" Ari shouted, realizing Ari had seen her and Barnaby plotting against Merula and had taken it wildly out of context.  
"You almost…kissed…" Rowan said, wiping tears away with the back of her hands.

Ari laughed wildly as Barnaby and Charlie passed them. The two looked on, curiously, slowly their steps.

"You did not," Ari laughed, grabbing Rowan's hand and jamming it into her pocket. "This is what you saw." Rowan and Ari's faces where practically pressed up against each other. "He gave me something to help me get back at Merula."

"Ari, I'm- "

Ari held her hand up, stepping away. "I would never do anything to hurt you, Rowan. Never."

She stalked off, leaving Rowan standing there watching, angry at herself for letting her jealousy get the best of her. She felt like Barnaby could do better, and anyone could come along and take him. Seeing him and Ari had been proof of that to Rowan. She hadn't used logic when she'd watched them together. If she had, she would have reasoned that Ari was so wrapped around Charlie that she barely noticed other boys, and Barnaby had never held any interest to Ari.

Instead her mind had twisted the interaction into something ugly to fit her own insecurities. It all seemed ridiculous. She knew Ari wouldn't hold it against her, but she felt like the worst friend for accusing her of being interested in Barnaby.

Ari's mind was laser focused on the Artefact room. She waited until her classes were done, dodging her friends and their long-standing dinner date. She knew Barnaby would know where she was, hopefully he could cover for her. She passed the Great Hall, walking down the corridor to the Artefact room, where Barnaby had said the Fire Whiskey would be.

Framing Merula wasn't honorable, and she knew that. Honor was for Gryffindors, anyway, she reasoned. When she tallied up the interactions between Merula and her, she almost always lost. She was too focused on playing fair. Merula was constantly bringing a gun to a wand fight. Knowing that Merula had poisoned her and nearly killed her was eating away at Ari's brain. Merula deserved to be punished, just the once, by someone playing her own game.

"There isn't any other way," she whispered to herself, searching through the cabinets in the room. Finally, she found it, tucked far back and hidden in the lowest cabinet. Uncorking it, she poured it slowly into the flask, inhaling the rich, spicy smell.

Tonks and Tulip would definitely be aware someone had tampered with the bottle but Ari didn't care. Let them speculate until they died. She planned to dose the punch after her dance with Charlie. No one would be focused on her after that, too busy dancing themselves. Tulip and Tonks wouldn't be able to beat her to it. She'd leave the flash hidden, but easily findable.

Merula could finally reap what she sowed. Ari knew it wouldn't help her sleep at night or change what happened, but it would be nice to see someone beat Merula, just once.

Tonks had helped Ari sneak into Hogsmeade the morning of the dance. She needed hair pins and found all hers somehow missing. She swore she always put them back when she used them, but like socks, they seemed to vanish into the void after being used once. Her hair was already done, curled softly and tumbling down her back and her mind running over her plan to set Merula up as she made her way down to the Hufflepuff common room.

Coming the opposite way was Charlie, holding an enormous box. He saw her and smiled, attempting a wave from under the box, causing the lid to tip off. Ari jogged over to help him.

"Whatcha got there?" She asked, peering into the box. It looked like a large, black blanket.

He flushed. "Dress robes," he admitted, shoving the lid firmly back on the rectangular box. "Bill sent them, they only just arrived today."

"Why is Bill sending you dress robes?" She asked, charmed by the idea.

"The dress robes mum sent are…well, they were probably fashionable a century ago. I'd mentioned them in a letter to Bill and he sent these so that I…" he trailed off, looking embarrassed. Now she was extra charmed. He wanted to look nice for her. It made her heart pick up.

"Oh. That was really nice of Bill," she said awkwardly, straightening up now that Charlie had the box firmly in his arms again. He seemed to be seeing her for the first time.

"You did your hair," he commented, his voice strangled sounding. "It looks nice."

"Thanks!" She said brightly, fingering one of the long curls. "Rowan did it this morning. I needed pins so I went into Hogsmeade," she was rambling, she realized, as she held the bobby pins up for him to see. Why was she being like this? It was just regular Charlie: messy hair, brown pants, maroon sweater, green jacket, blue eyes. She saw them everyday and functioned just fine.

But, a small voice breathed in her ear, he's not fussing over your appearance every day. He isn't getting dressed up for you every day.

"Uh," he said, biting his lower lip, "Do you want me to meet you at your common room or…?"

They were really going to this dance tonight, together, weren't they? He'd never asked her, and she hadn't asked him. It was happening though, all the same.

She shook her head. "Just…the great hall is probably fine. You don't have to go out of your way." She couldn't look in his eyes anymore. Why was she so scared?

He nodded, smiling. "Sounds like a plan, Ari. I'll see you tonight." He stepped around her, heading up to the Gryffindor tower, leaving her there, feeling like an idiot.

After a few seconds of pure terror, she started walking again. Everything was going to be fine. Their little interaction was not going to be an indication of how the night was going to go. They were friends, he never said he wanted to be with her.

She needed to relax.

Ari stepped out of the common room, the last of them to leave. Her mind had been replaying the conversation with the Bloody Baron over and over. She hadn't told anyone what he'd told her, although She knew eventually she'd have to. She needed to get his journal and pour over it, first, before she did anything else. She didn't know if she could trust her memories of Jacob anymore, but also was unsure if she could trust the perspectives of the people who had known him. Being withdrawn didn't make him a bad person and discovering dark things didn't necessarily mean he himself was dark. She did know, deeply, that she had to at least find out what Jacob had gotten himself into, even if it meant confronting the dragon guarding the cursed vault in the forbidden forest again. If he had gotten mixed up in the dark arts, did she even want to save him? Could he be saved at all?

She wasn't sure of anything, consumed with her own worries, as she walked down the stairs. Tulip, Penny, Rowan, and Tonks were waiting.

"What a dramatic entrance," Tulip commented, but she was smiling all the same. Tulip and Tonks had opted to wear black dress robes instead of a gown. "More mobility," Tulip had said while Tonks had rejected anything that might make her seem even a little marriageable. Rowan had ditched her glasses for the night, her hair pulled off her face. For the first time, Ari had a really clear view of her dark eyes. Rowan was so pretty, she thought, looking at Rowan in her modest, navy blue dress. The dress had elbow length sleeves and delicate beading around the bodice. The front was cut shorter than the back, giving it a soft train, and showing of Rowans shoes, a pair of matching beaded flats. Her neckline scooped gently just under her collarbone, the overall effect incredibly soft.

Next to her, Penny was in a tight white dress. The dress fluted out around her feet and was cut lower, showing off a small amount of cleavage although not enough to cause any trouble with Professor Sprout. The back of the gown was cut midway down her back and her hair was intricately braided into one, large braid that draped over her shoulder.

As for Ari, she'd decided on a flowing, gold dress. Cut like a toga, a long strip of fabric covered one shoulder, leaving the other bare. A white belt circled her waist, giving the dress a nice shape before flowing softly down over her feet. Gold encircled her upper arm, the only jewelry she'd put on. She'd pulled her hair halfway off her face with only small pieces framing her face. Ari was short, but so was Charlie so she'd opted out of heels and instead wore matching gold flats, carefully hidden under the fabric of the dress.

"You know me," Ari responded, giving them a small twirl when she got down. The dress fanned out around her in a way that gave Ari immense satisfaction. It would look nice when her and Charlie danced their mediocre waltz for their heads of houses. She hoped it might offer a slight distraction to her dancing.

Outside the door, Barnaby was waiting nervously for Rowan.

"This is actually happening," Tulip whispered, causing Tonks and Ari to break out giggling.

"Be quiet," Penny shushed them. "I think it's so nice."

"I hope you're ready to start the first dance," McGonagall said to Charlie, who was impatiently waiting for Ari just outside the hall.

"We've been practicing for months," he lied, his eyes glued to the corner the girls would be coming down.

"Oh, I'm certain Ms. Young has been giving it her all," McGonagall responded, leaving Charlie to his nervous thoughts. He thought he might explode into a million tiny pieces and he hadn't even seen her yet. The glimpse he'd been given this afternoon was driving him crazy and he had to fight the urge to run his hands nervously through his hair. Ben had spent a long time making it look decent. Six years and this was finally happening.

He was wondering if he should just lay his feelings out at her feet and see what happened when she appeared around the corner like something out of a dream he'd had. She looked like a living goddess, clad in sparkling gold, laughing at something Tonks had said.

"Close your mouth," Ben whispered next to him, causing Charlie to jump.

"When did you get here?" Charlie asked, dragging his eyes off of Ari.

"Long enough to see you making an ass of yourself. Play it cool."

"Oh, you're suddenly at one with the ladies?" Charlie challenged. Ben's face went red.

"Just trying to be helpful," he muttered. "Not that is matters. You two need to get it together."

Charlie looked back up to see her almost in front of him, lips parted, eyes wide. He jogged towards her.

"You look…"

"You too," she agreed, looking down at her feet.

"I cannot listen to this all night," Tonks said, walking away. "I just can't."

Barnaby clapped a hand on Charlies shoulder and said, "It's your responsibility to let me know if you two get together tonight." Charlie blinked, but Barnaby swanned away, Rowan at his side.

"There you are," Professor Sprout interrupted Charlie and Ari's pining. "Time to show us what you've got. A flawless waltz."

Charlie offered Ari his arm and the two walked in.

"Who has this dance?" Tulip asked as Ari went past. She snapped her head in Tulip's direction just in time to see Penny elbow her hard.

"I have tonight," Andre crowed, watching Charlie spin Ari onto the dance floor. They had never practiced with actual music.

"Deep breath," he whispered. "Head up, I lead…prove our heads of house wrong."

She nodded, placing a hand on his shoulder. His hand was warm on her waist, and he pulled her closer than usual. She steadied her breathing as the music began, and then they were moving, everyone's eyes on them.

"I hate this," Rowan complained. "Look at them, if they're not married by the end of this dance something terrible has happened."

"You were SO SURE you were right, but no one can resist a person in formal wear," Andre said smugly, watching Charlie lift Ari into the air with more grace than he would have imagined from the pair. To their left, McGonagall and Sprout were watching with twin smug expressions. Tulip was watching them curiously.

"Ben," she whispered. "What's Charlie's plan when he graduates?"

"He wants to study dragons in Romania," Ben whispered back, his eyes never leaving the dance floor. "Some amazing dragonologist has already promised him a spot if his grades don't change."

Tulip looked back over at Professor Sprout. Were they matchmaking? She was outraged. The teachers couldn't interfere with the pool. Sprout had suggested curse breaking in Romania for Ari, McGonagall had them dancing together in front of the entire school…no. The teachers were cheating.

Charlie spun Ari one last time as the music stopped. His heart was pounding, blood rushing in his ears. Everything had happened just as he had promised Professor McGonagall: flawlessly. Ari hadn't tried to lead or stepped on his feet. He could hardly believe it.

Light clapping broke their concentration and Ari ducked her head, stepping out of his embrace. The rest of the students flooded the dance floor, leaving them standing in front of each other awkwardly.

Charlie opened his mouth, ready to tell her everything he'd been thinking, when something caught her eye.

"Merula," she said darkly. "I'll be right back."

He turned and caught her arm. "Let me help."

She looked at him for a moment and then- "Okay."

"Dancing doesn't feel natural," Barnaby said, letting Rowan lead in the dance. "Dancing is for girls, not men."

Rowan frowned. Why did so many of her friends have such bad parents? "Well, dancing can be powerful. You saw Charlie, did he seem weak?"

"He lifted Ari four times, you have to be pretty strong to do that."

Rowan suppressed a laugh. "Exactly. But, Barnaby, being a man is about more than just brute strength."

He looked down at her. "I believe you."

Her breath caught in her throat for a moment, but she cleared it away. She was all keyed up, watching her best friend fall in love under the candle light, that was all, she told herself. Barnaby and she couldn't have been more different if they'd been born on different planets. She was definitely attracted to him physically, but intellectually she wasn't sure there was anything between them. She'd always imagined she would grow old with someone that she could talk to for hours, about anything.

"I want to try, to be that kind of man. I don't want to be another brain-dead Death Eater," he continued, oblivious to her inner monologue. "I want to study animals, like Professor Kettleburn. Maybe even teach people about them. You see, with animals you don't need to be anything but exactly what you are. They can see you, you know? Does that make sense?"

Rowan nodded, unsure of what to say. Now who was speechless?

"That's what I like about you. You see people for who they are. No one else really sees me, but you do."

Their eyes met, and she smiled. "I do see you." She didn't, she realized. She never had. She wanted to, though.

"Barnaby gave this to me during our last Magical Creatures class," Ari said, pulling a flask out of the back of her dress. "It's Merula's. What's neat about it is that it constantly refills. There is no way to ever run out of whatever you put in it."

"What did you put in it?" Charlie asked suspiciously.

"Fire whiskey. It was all I could get my hands on," she admitted.

"Are you planning to spike the punch bowl?"

"Do you think it's a bad idea?" She asked, nervous suddenly. If Charlie thought it was a bad idea there was no way she'd be able to go through with it.

"Tonks and Tulip are going to be really disappointed that you beat them to it," Charlie stood in front of the bowl, using his body to shield Ari from view as she began pouring the whiskey into the punch.

"I didn't do anything," Ari said, hiding the flash just out of view, but not so well it couldn't be found and traced right back to Merula. "Merula did."

He smiled.

"Want to dance again?"

"Are you offering to be my alibi?" She teased, taking his offered hand.

"Why nothing would delight me more."

"Mr. Weasley, you flatter me."

"Can you believe someone spiked the punch?" Tulip sulked, sitting down at the table everyone else was resting at.

"What?!" Rowan spluttered, spitting her drink back into her cup.

"Yeah," she said sourly, watching Penny and Tonks dance. "I was going to do that."

"Well I for one am completely shocked," Charlie said with feign surprise.

"Yes that is brand new information to me as well," Ari giggled. Tulip narrowed her eyes at them.

"What did you do?"

"This punch is amazing," Barnaby interrupted, plopping down to Rowan. "Here, taste it."

"Oh, honey, no…no. Give me that," Rowan said, taking the glass from an obviously tipsy Barnaby.

"Let's dance!" He jumped back up, enthusiastically, motioning for Rowan to join him but she declined.

"I will!" Ari volunteered, letting him spin her theatrically.

"I am really bad!" He said, laughing as they made their way through people.

"So am I. Charlie just made me look good."

He grabbed her hand and the two began a ridiculous, but fun, twist. "Look," he said, pulling her flush against his chest. "You can be in love with Charlie but you can't date him until we get into the cursed vault in the forest. I have a lot of galleons riding on that outcome and-"

"What?" Her smiled faltered a little. "What do you mean you have galleons riding on us getting together in the cursed vault?"

"The bet, the bet! Everyone knows about the bet!" He continued, oblivious to what he was saying. "I put money on a cursed vault and I really want to win."

"You made a bet?"

"We all did! Tulip, Tonks, Ben, Rowan, everyone has money in it!"

"Does Charlie?"

"Pffft! Nope! We can't tell him, either. Hey where are you going?"

She stormed over to her friends, most of whom were still gathered and talking around the table.

"You made a bet about my love life?!" She demanded, cutting through their conversation. Charlie's smile faded as he looked around at the instantly guilty faces.

"What bet?" He asked. Ari was shaking, furious with her friends.

"They all made a bet on if we would start dating," she said, her voice trembling. "They put money on it and everything."

He blinked and then stood next to Ari. "Is this true?"

"It was all in good fun," Tulip said quickly.

"It's just you guys are so obviously…" Rowan's words died on her lips.

"So obviously what?" Ari demanded. "So obviously what, Rowan?"

"In love!" Tulip exploded, jumping out of her seat, fists balled up at her side. "Anyone with eyes can see it, Merlin even the teachers are trying to set you two up! It would be almost funny if it wasn't so pathetic."

Ari took a step back. She felt as if Tulip had slapped her. "I thought you were my friends."

"Ari!" Rowan shouted but Ari turned on her heel and strode out. Charlie hesitated, watching her leave. He turned back to his friends, his face disappointed.

"You know, she thinks that no one really loves her, right? This isn't your best look."

Ari didn't know where to go. She couldn't go back to her room, where her "friends" would be waiting, and she could bare to face anyone else. She was pacing down a hall. "I just need somewhere I can be alone. Where no one can find me. A place where I can cry," she murmured to herself, trying to think.

"Ari," Charlie said, jogging towards her. Shame bloomed in her chest. "Hey, come on, come talk," he said, taking her hand and leading her to a door she could have sworn had not been there before.

Inside was the strangest room she'd ever seen. It looked exactly like a Hogwarts dormitory, but it was empty. Large, fluffy chairs were situated in front of a roaring fireplace. A fluffy rug covered the majority of floor space and a four-poster bed was pressed up against a wall, as if it had been abandoned years before.

"Did you know this was here?" She asked, having momentarily forgotten why they were there in the first place.

"No," he said, looking around, surprise written all over his face.

"I just wanted somewhere to be alone," she said, sinking into one of the chairs. He followed, sitting on the arm. She rested her head against his leg.

"I know they weren't trying to be mean, but it makes me feel like we're some kind of big joke," she finally said after staring into the fireplace silently. "Did you know everyone thinks we're in love?"

"Aren't we, though?" He asked with more bravery than he felt. "I know that I've been…well…since I first saw you. You changed my eleven-year-old life."

She blinked. Who had he even been to her that first year? They'd had Herbology together and he had been dismal in it. Flying lessons, he was amazing even as a first year, and had made the Gryffindor Quidditch team his second year. She'd watched him play, but he wasn't even on her radar. They hadn't met, to her, until her fourth year. Bill had brought him to help them study. Charlie had a reputation then, for magical creatures.

She had been annoyed at first. Barnaby was Ari's encyclopedia for magical creatures then. Charlie seemed like an adrenaline junkie and was an outsider. How quickly he had become one of her best friends, though? She'd taken to him almost immediately, taking him into the forbidden forest with her…fighting that red cap, the acromantula…

She didn't say anything. "I don't know," she finally admitted. The lapsed back into silence and she thought. Be honest, her mind demanded. She thought back to last year, running from the dragon. What had she been the most afraid of?

Charlie dying. She'd dropped Jacob's journal, the only link she had to him, so she could save Charlie's life. It would have been unthinkable to her, to let it go, under any other circumstances. What wouldn't she have risked going back and get it?

Anything. But not Charlie.

If she was being honest, was it her life she was really worried about? Sparing him from the pain of her death, or sparing herself the pain of his? She could put off dating until the Jacob thing was no longer hanging over her head, when they were both safe, and there was no risk at all that she had to worry about Charlie.

It was selfish, and she knew it.

"I don't want to live a life that you're not in," she finally whispered, afraid to look at him. "I thought…I thought if I put this off…put US off, I could spare you the pain of me not surviving the cursed vaults. But really I was sparing myself that pain."

"What are you saying?" He asked, his voice hoarse.

"I love you, too."

"I can wait, Ari," he said, sliding down from the arm of the chair so he was kneeling in front of her. He took her hands in his and looked at her earnestly. "I meant it. Just hearing you say you love me too…it's enough. I can wait. We can finish this year, and even next year if you need to."

"Charlie…" she said, overwhelmed but he shook his head.

"It's no good if you're fighting yourself to be with me. I want you to want it as bad as I do. I can wait. It's just time."

"We'll open the cursed vault…together. And we'll face whatever is inside it together…and after that…we'll just be together. I swear it."

He kissed the top of her hand, eyes closed.

"As long as we're together."

"I've looked everywhere," Rowan said hopelessly. They had resumed their search after Ari hadn't come back the night before. "I didn't find her anywhere."

"I can't believe Barnaby told her," Tulip fumed from inside the Hufflepuff common room.

"It's not just his fault," Penny sighed, chin in her hand. "It's all of our faults. It was really thoughtless of us to make that bet in the first place."

"It wasn't meant to be hurtful…we were just rooting for them," Tulip vented, frustrated.

"I know. She'll come around, just give her space," Rowan said. Tonks jumped up to answer a banging on the door. Ben and Barnaby trudged in.

"Charlie didn't come back last night, either."

"They're together, somewhere," Tulip finally stopped pacing and sat down. "I just want to apologize."

"Honestly, I think we should just leave them alone. If we push it, they might not want to be around us anymore."

"It wasn't that big of a deal!" Tulip argued. "Just a stupid bet made among friends."

"It was a big deal," Rowan sighed. "We were jerks."

"I feel like an asshole," Barnaby added.

"I like Ben's idea. Let them come out when they're ready," Tonks decided. "At which point I will throw myself at Ari's feet and beg her to forgive me."

Tulip nodded. "Okay."

"We made a mistake," Ari said, sitting in her gown and looking at the door. "Everyone is going to know I didn't go home last night."

"I can go get you something to wear," Charlie offered. "So you don't have to do a walk of shame through the castle."

"Yeah but then you'll have to do the walk of shame," she pointed out. He shrugged. What did he care? He was personally having the best twenty four hours of his life. She'd told him he loved him, promised that they would stay together, and let him hold her until she fell asleep and now she was sitting there, in the same bed they'd slept in the night before, disappointed they had to part ways. He was comfortable hiring a sky writer, but walking through the castle in last nights dress robes was fine with him as well.

"We could just walk out together?" She suggested. "Find out who won the bet."

"We're not dating," he reminded her.

She took a deep breath and let her hands flop into her skirt. "I should be brave. Let's just go together…and hope we don't run into any of our teachers."

"Whatever you want."

The walk wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, which wasn't saying much. So many people were lounging around and openly staring. Charlie didn't seem to mind as he guided her through the halls, his hand pressed gently against her lower back. Charlie had had the right idea when he suggested going to get her clothes. She knew rumors would be flying all over the school before she ever made it back to her dorm.

She was grateful he walked her all the way to hers instead of parting ways at the staircase. They stood outside Hufflepuff door, staring at each other.

"See you Monday?" He offered, finally. She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"See you Monday."

She watched him walk away for a moment and then lifted her skirt and walked in. Tonks, Tulip, Penny, and Rowan were sitting together, playing a game of chess. They didn't register her immediately when she came in. A third year sitting on the other end of the room took her appearance in and asked, "Did you stay out all night?"

Four heads snapped up to look at her and she just shrugged. "Maybe I did."

The girl smiled.

"That is seriously so cool."

Ari stood in front of her friends, looking at them each in turn. Charlie had told her the night before that he wasn't mad. If she was being honest (it seemed like she'd been doing a lot of that these days), she really wasn't either. She was just hurt.

Rowan stood and hugged Ari, followed by Tonks, Penny, and finally Tulip.

"I'm really sorry," Tulip whispered. The rest of the girls murmured in agreement.

"I'm not mad," Ari said from the center of their hug. "It just hurt my feelings."

"We shouldn't have done it," Rowan said quickly.

"We didn't mean anything hurtful by it," Penny added.

"I understand if you don't want to invite us to your wedding," Tonks said.

"Merlin Tonks," Rowan cried.

"Too soon," Tulip responded, hiding a smile. Ari smiled too. If the worst thing her friends ever did to her was argue about her love live, was that so bad?

A little twinge said that maybe she wasn't totally over it, but Ari shoved it down. For now, she wanted to be, so she would be.


	8. Transpose

It's true, maybe I've been wasting my time

All the time.

From time to time, we fall in line, but now it seems we are blind.

No one knows, that's how it goes

All the thoughts that we transpose.

Once school picked up again, so did Ari's plan to retrieve her brother's notebook. Her and Rowan stood at the edge of the forest, peering in.

"You don't suppose you could just…accio it out?" Rowan suggested.

Ari considered that. "Maybe. Let's try. Accio Jacobs notebook!" She called. They stood there, waiting, but nothing happened.

"That seemed like it would be too easy," Rowan sighed. "I was just hoping you wouldn't have to go back in."

"Me too. The Forbidden Forest creeps me out. Ari agreed, turning back to head to the castle.

"So, what's your plan?" Rowan asked.

"Probably the same as before. Fly in, snatch it, fly out. Hope I don't get eaten by a dragon."

"You're gonna fly in alone?" Rowan looked sideways at Ari. Since the ball, Ari and Charlie had kept a fairly healthy distance. Charlie had gone back to eating with the Gryffindor's and Ari kept her eyes firmly on her own plate. Her and Charlie had a plan, and she was comfortable with it. She didn't want to give her friends the satisfaction, either. Let them think that her and Charlie were not interested in each other anymore. She knew they were all dying to ask, but too afraid to reopen the wound. The peace between them all was tentative at best. Ari had not held them accountable for what happened. She wanted to move on, she swore she did, but she couldn't help enjoying watching them squirm a bit.

"I'm not a bad flyer, I figure I could do this on my own," she replied placidly. "It's not like I'm going in to a cursed vault by myself."

"That's true," Rowan admitted. "It's just…with a dragon on the loose…don't you think you should…take Hogwarts' resident dragon expert?"

Ari shrugged nonchalantly. "If he wants to go, I guess, but it's really not a big deal for me to go alone."

She knew she'd take Charlie. There was no way she was going to fly back into a dragon's waiting wings without him. He was the best flyer at the school. He'd saved her life on a broomstick twice. She'd also promised they'd find Jacob together and she meant it. She missed him.

Tulip and Penny were back to sorting through Jacob's belongings again. "She's still mad," Tulip said, looking at other drawings.

"Charlie is too," Penny sighed. "He used to sit next to me in arithmancy and since the incident he's been sitting across the room. It doesn't help that they barely look at each other anymore."

"Do you think we messed it up."

Penny nodded. "Yeah. I think we freaked them out and now they're avoiding each other. I keep trying to think of a way to force them back together that isn't obvious."

"They're so clearly right together," Tulip groaned. "I need to stop thinking about it. I need to worry about other things. Like Jacob. Was he evil, or misguided?"

Penny opened a drawer they'd only ever glanced in and pulled out a stack of papers. "Um…both, maybe?"

Tulip looked over at an elaborate maze made of dark marks. "This looks…obsessive."

Penny rubbed her mouth, turning it over to look at the next one. "Does this look like the you-know-who boggarts?"

"They do. Why would be drawing that?"

"More trees. He's obsessed with forests. I don't get it, but I'm starting to think we shouldn't open that vault."

"We need to get his journal. There were so many symbols in it, maybe these are all just clues."

"Tulip lets be really honest for a second. Would Jacob have assumed that Ari would go looking for him, and leave hidden clues behind?"

"She was a lot younger than him." Tulip admitted. "Like…eight years or something."

"So, if he's not leaving clues then what is all this? The deranged drawings of someone losing grip with reality or someone who has discovered something he's passionate about, and never thought he'd disappear?"

"Or never thought anyone would ever find."

"I'm starting to think that looking for Jacob is a lot more dangerous than we thought."

Ari sat on the floor of Jacob's old room all the doodles of dark marks surrounding her. Who was he? She tried to remember him, but nothing felt right anymore. Every time she felt like she closed the door on one mystery, six more popped up. Jacob the death eater felt just as right as Jacob the loving, missing big brother. She had hoped that with each opened vault, he'd somehow be inside.

She was beginning to think the vault with the boggarts were more of a warning than a clue. What had he found? Did she even want to find it?

She tried to think of a timeline. You-know-who would have been defeated around the same time Jacob was in school. Death Eaters would have been ferried into prison. It would all be playing out in the paper. Maybe the history of it all fascinated him. There was no way for him to actually be a death eater, not with you-know-who dead himself.

The Bloody Baron's face floated into her mind and she immediately stuffed it back down. No. That was impossible.

"What did you get yourself into, Jacob?"

"Happy Valentine's Day," Barnaby said, catching up with Rowan outside of potions.

"I'm going to…walk away," Ari said, turning around abruptly. Rowan looked back at her red-haired friend for a moment before turning back to Barnaby. Since the disaster that was the ball, she'd been trying to avoid him. It wasn't especially difficult. They had no classes together and she had moved her studying to the Hufflepuff common room to avoid him in the library. She shouldn't be mad at him, after all, Charlie and Ari had spiked the punch (although Merula had been the one who'd been punished for it), which caused Barnaby to spill the secret. And it wasn't like everyone didn't know that Barnaby was terrible at keeping secrets. But Ari was still upset over the whole thing. She wouldn't even look at Charlie which made Transfiguration especially awkward since the two had been sitting next to each other all year. Rowan liked sitting next to Andre but instead had been forced to swap spots, so Ari and Charlie could pretend to be strangers.

"Thanks, Barnaby," She said, clutching her books a little tighter to her chest.

"I know you're mad at me," he said, walking in front of her so she had to stop. "It's my fault everything blew up with Ari."

"It's everyone's fault," she said firmly, trying to step around him. He blocked her again.

"I like you," he said bluntly. "I thought we…had a moment. Was I wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's not that you were wrong, it's just…we don't have a lot in common."

"What are you talking about? We have a lot in common. I want to prove it to you. You think because I'm not book smart that we don't have anything to say to each other, but we do. Let me take you out, just one date and if you still think that I'm not good enough, I'll accept it."

Rowan bit her lower lip. No matter what she said, Barnaby was going to be disappointed. He was right; they shared nothing in common. The idea of trying to make conversation through an entire date sounded like torture. What he could possibly have to say?

"Okay. One date, and then we put this entire thing to bed."

"That's all I need," he promised, practically skipping away.

"I've made a terrible mistake."

"I just need one warm day," Ari complained, looking at the snow falling from the sky again. "This has been the wettest winter on record, I swear it."

"I don't know why you're so desperate to get back into the forbidden forest," Ben retorted, flicking his wrist like Flitwick had showed. His book went flying across the room, nearly crashing into another student. "Ari, you're distracting me."

Ari ignored him. "I just need to know. I have to know if Jacob was interested in death eaters."

"Even if he was, so what?"

"So what?" She asked incredulously. "Ben you once screamed at your own literal shadow."

"It looked like a spider- you know what, I'm not going to keep defending that. It was legitimate."  
"How can you say so what to him being interested in death eaters? They killed a lot of people."

"And now they're all in jail."

"Not all of them! Some of them got off on an insanity defense or…paid a lot of money to avoid jail."

Ben stopped working on his wand movements and faced Ari. "I'm saying, even if he was in to something evil, does that change anything for you? He's still your brother, right? You still love him, don't you? Maybe he just got caught up in something bad and couldn't get out before it was too late? I think you're judging him too harshly."

Ben, of course, spoke from experience after having been placed under the imperious curse and forced to do something awful things their fourth year. It had almost fractured their group as a whole at the time, and Ari sometimes still wondered if Rowan ever truly forgave him for what happened in their fourth year. The only reason he was still sitting next to her, talking to her as one of her best friends was because she forced it. No one had been allowed to say anything bad about Ben in front of her.

"I just need to know, one way or the other, what happened to Jacob."

"Take Charlie back into the forest. You know he wants to see that dragon again. Find your notebook, let's solve the mystery of Jacob."

Getting Charlie to agree to go back into the forest was another matter entirely. He was constantly on the Quidditch pitch, training for the house cup. She kept trying to wait for him, but the weather was cold or he stayed out ridiculously late. She finally bit the bullet, bundling herself up and climbing up the stands to watch the Gryffindor team practice. She'd brought some of her school work with her, since it seemed like everything was amping up. Spring would be right around the corner and hopefully they'd get a crack at the next cursed vault.

She was reading by wand light when Charlie flew over, hair windswept, face sweaty.

"Hey you. Did you come all the way out here to see me?"

She closed her book. "I was hoping we could talk."

He lowered his broom, so it was level with the edge of the stadium and patted it. "Let's go then."

Ari gingerly climbed on, gripping him tightly. Flying was not her favorite thing in the world, although she was getting better about it. She credited that to all the time she'd been on one while Charlie zoomed around.

He landed, jogged into the locker room to stash his broom, and then began walking back to the castle with her.

"What's on your mind?"

"I want to find Jacob's journal. We need to go back into the forest."

"Now? Right now?"

"No, not today, but maybe once there is less frost on the ground? I'm gonna ask Barnaby to put together a map based on how we went in last time and I was hoping you could help him, since you flew us out."

"It's pretty hazy," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, "But I could definitely try."

"I just want to retrace our steps, not spend weeks covering the forest inch by inch. It's massive."

"And then what?"

"And then we see if we can piece together what he was doing, or at least, what's waiting for us in this vault so we're not going in blind."

"Do you remember what I told you fourth year, when we were preparing to try and go in the first time?"

"'Sometimes it's better not to overthink it…we can always run if we have to.'" She repeated. The advice had seemed so bad back then. It still seemed bad, now, but it had served them well.

"Let's get his notebook and put together a loose plan to get in the vault. Worst case scenario, we'll run."

They were in the castle now, standing at the edge of the staircase that marked their parting of ways. Ari headed down towards the kitchen and Charlie up into a tower. He gave her a little smile.

"We're close Ari. We'll have answers soon."

"Rowan and Barnaby have to be the strangest couple Hogwarts as ever seen," Andre said, walking into The Three Broomsticks during their latest Hogsmeade visit.

"How is it going?" Ari leaned forward, nearly spilling Tonks butter beer in the process. "Amazing? Awful? Is she sneaking out the kitchen to make a mad dash for freedom?"

"Only you would do something that ridiculous," Andre rolled his eyes. "They looked like they were having fun."

Ari slumped back in her chair. "You are the actual worst right now Andre. Where is Penny when I need her?"

"Two tables away, pretending we don't exist," Charlie pointed out. Penny and Tonks were having a date of their own, completely ignoring the table of their friends.

"Boo!" Ben cried, throwing a handful of popcorn at them. Tulip and Penny pretended not to notice.

Ari looked back down at the parchment in front of them. They had been working on a map of the forest for the last week and mostly all they had were doodles of trees, and one huge dragon.

"Remember when the worst thing in the forest was just some spiders and couple centaurs?" Ari asked despondently.

"Oh yeah, draw those in, too," Ben said, pulling the paper towards him so he could doodle a couple spiders.

"Did we fly over the centaur camp?" Ari asked, looking at the map sideways.

"On the way in, yeah, definitely. On the way out…I'm not so sure."

"I'm positive I dropped it before we left," she said. "I just don't remember if we were running away or standing right in front of the dragon when it happened."

"I want to see that dragon again so bad," he said dreamily.

"What was your favorite thing about it? How angry it was or how it tried to kill us? I think my favorite was the fleeing for our lives, personally."

"She was just really beautiful," Charlie said, ignoring Ari's sarcasm.

"He's going to get you killed. I could always fly you in," Andre said.

"I'm not going to get her killed," Charlie retorted.

"Let's keep that idea in our back pocket though, just in case," she said to Andre, mostly to tease Charlie. She had no intention of going without him.

The date was going better than Rowan expected. Barnaby wasn't her match intellectually but he was interesting. He knew things she had no idea about, mostly the dark arts and magical creatures. He also was more interested in her ideas around teaching, as well as the general history of magic, than anyone else around her. Even Ari's eyes often glazed over when Rowan began waxing poetic about how teachers should be younger. Barnaby's whole face was lit up, even if he didn't understand a lot of what she was saying.

"I sort of get that," he said. "Younger teachers could probably…connect?"

"Exactly! I sometimes think Dumbledore hired his staff based on what amused him at the time instead of who would actually be good! For example, Snape is an absolute garbage teacher and it's obvious he'd rather be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Why not move him, and let someone more qualified teach potions?"

"It would be nice to have a good DADA teacher. Ari is the only person who has taught me anything this year."

"Me too. She'd make a really good teacher too if she wasn't so dead set on being a curse breaker."

"Ari would be a terrible teacher," Barnaby replied.

"What? Why?" Rowan said, outraged.

"She doesn't really…like a lot of people?" Barnaby said, his statement more of a question.

Rowan shook her head. She wasn't going to ruin what was a nice day out by talking about Ari. She felt like all she ever did was discuss Ari's life. She was having fun. Barnaby was being fun. She wondered if it was possible to build something with someone you were polar opposites with. Ari and Charlie, Tulip and Penny, they all had so much in common. Barnaby had been bred very carefully, by his pure-blooded parents, to be another brain washed member of the twenty-eight club. Like Tonks, Barnaby was likely supposed to get married his seventh year, take a cushy ministry job, and produce more pure-blooded babies to carry on the Lee tradition.

Yet here he was, a pure cinnamon roll, chattering on animatedly about the chimera Kettleburn had once lost for an entire year.

"I touched it," he was saying. "It nearly ripped my entire arm off, but it was worth it."

Rowan couldn't help it. It was the most ridiculous statement she'd ever heard, and she laughed anyway. Barnaby took her hand and smiled.

"So, what's the plan again?" Tulip asked, looking into the Forbidden Forest again.

"We'll fly in, find the journal, and fly back out. Easy," Charlie said confidently.

"And if anything happens, you'll see red stars. Go get help," Ari added. "But this is the easiest part of opening the vault. The journal hasn't been touched in almost a year."

"Should we just run straight to Dumbledore or…?" Ben asked, glancing nervously around.

"Nothing is going to happen. Everything is going to be fine," Charlie reassured him.

"But definitely get Dumbledore if we're not back in…twelve hours?" Ari said. "I'm sure that won't be necessary though."

"Okay, go," Rowan said. "The sooner you leave the sooner we can go back through his journal."

Ari and Charlie climbed on the broom. "See you soon," she smiled and with a whoosh, they were airborne.

"What are the odds this goes off completely without a hitch?" Andre asked, watching them vanish in the distance.

"Almost zero," Tulip replied.

It was a chilly, but clear night. The stars were alive above them, the moon a sliver in front of them. They'd been weaving up and down, dipping into the trees, trying to remember the route they should have memorized from their rudimentary map.

Charlie pulled up when they got close to the spiders and the centaurs. Ari wasn't keen on reliving those nightmares and judging by how tense he got when they approached, neither was he. She knew the centaurs would see them up here, but as long as they steered clear of them, the centaurs would not bother them.

"Are we close to the dragon?" She asked in his ear. He shrugged in return, his focus on flying them through the forest without crashing into a tree. She was getting nervous. The journal could be buried under leaves or dirt or totally destroyed from the wet weather. Parchment filled journals weren't really made to last.

Above the trees, she thought she saw something move. "What was that?" She asked, pointing down. Charlie dipped again, and she realized she should have been more specific. She may have inadvertently sent Charlie to their death.

It was nothing. More trees, more leaves, an endless expanse, she thought hopelessly. The came back up, flying placidly against the wind. Everything was so silent, it was unnerving. She was freaking herself out with the possibilities. Shadows kept moving right at the edge of her vision.

"Go back down," she told him, wanting to see something besides the ghosts in her memory. Even if it was more nothing. He pointed them downward, ducked under the canopy of trees, and there it was, clear as day, as if she'd just dropped it moments ago.

"Charlie!" She said, motioning towards it. She reached for her wand in her back pocket, prepared to force it up into her hand, when a deafening roar nearly knocked her off the broom.

"DRAGON!" She screamed, unsure what else to say. Charlie hovered for a moment, staring with both panic and awe, and then with a "hold on!" Zipped around the blast of fire.

"You have to go back!" Ari screamed, looking behind her at the furious, green scaled beast flapping towards them. How was it both so large and so fast?

"I'm a little busy right now," He shouted back, taking a turn so fast she had closed her eyes to keep her from throwing up.

"Just swing back, I'll grab it!" Ari screamed, eyes still screwed shut.

"You have to OPEN YOUR EYES ARI!" He yelled back, having turned his head to glance back. Her eyes flew open to see them staring straight at the dragon.

"We're going to die," she said.

"Not today," he retorted, taking them into a deep nose dive. "NOW ARI NOW!"

She kept one hand on Charlie, wrapped around his arm, as she leaned down, one eye open, and grabbed the journal with her hand. For one solid moment she felt elated. They'd accomplished what they'd come here for and could go back. Nothing had gone wrong. The next moment she felt a familiar, sickening hook from behind her navel, and the two of them were flying


End file.
